Method for manufacturing semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

An object is to manufacture a semiconductor device including an oxide semiconductor film, which has stable electric characteristics and high reliability. A crystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed, without performing a plurality of steps, as follows: by utilizing a difference in atomic weight of plural kinds of atoms included in an oxide semiconductor target, zinc with low atomic weight is preferentially deposited on an oxide insulating film to form a seed crystal including zinc; and tin, indium, or the like with high atomic weight is deposited on the seed crystal while causing crystal growth. Further, a crystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed by causing crystal growth using a seed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc as a nucleus, whereby a single crystal oxide semiconductor film or a substantially single crystal oxide semiconductor film is formed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

An embodiment of the present invention relates to a semiconductor devicewhich includes a circuit including at least a semiconductor element suchas a transistor as an element, and a manufacturing method thereof. Forexample, embodiments of the present invention relate to an electronicdevice which includes, as a component, any of a power device mounted ina power circuit, a semiconductor integrated circuit including a memory,a thyristor, a converter, an image sensor, or the like, anelectro-optical device typified by a liquid crystal display device, anda light-emitting display device including a light-emitting element.

Note that the semiconductor device in this specification refers to alldevices that can function by utilizing semiconductor characteristics,and electro-optic devices, semiconductor circuits, and electronicappliances are all semiconductor devices.

BACKGROUND ART

Transistors formed over a glass substrate or the like are typicallymanufactured using amorphous silicon, polycrystalline silicon, or thelike, as typically seen in liquid crystal display devices. Althoughtransistors including amorphous silicon have low field effect mobility,they can be formed over larger glass substrates. On the other hand,although a transistor manufactured using polycrystalline silicon hashigh field-effect mobility, it has a disadvantage of not being suitablefor a larger glass substrate.

In view of the foregoing, attention has been drawn to a technique bywhich a transistor is manufactured using an oxide semiconductor, andsuch a transistor is applied to an electronic appliance or an opticaldevice. For example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 disclose atechnique in which a transistor is manufactured using zinc oxide or anIn—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide as an oxide semiconductor and such a transistoris used as a switching element or the like of a pixel of a displaydevice.

As for an oxide semiconductor used in such a transistor, there isdescription as follows: an oxide semiconductor is insensitive toimpurities; there is no problem when a considerable amount of metalimpurities is contained in the film; and, soda-lime glass which containsa large amount of alkali metal such as sodium and is inexpensive canalso be used (see Non-Patent Document 1).

REFERENCE

-   [Patent Document 1] Japanese Published Patent Application No.    2007-123861-   [Patent Document 2] Japanese Published Patent Application No.    2007-096055

Non-Patent Document

-   [Non-Patent Document 1] Kamiya, Nomura, and Hosono, “Carrier    Transport Properties and Electronic Structures of Amorphous Oxide    Semiconductors: The present status”, KOTAI BUTSURI (SOLID STATE    PHYSICS), 2009, Vol. 44, pp. 621-633

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

When hydrogen or moisture, which is to be a source for supplying acarrier enters the oxide semiconductor in a process for manufacturing adevice, the electrical conductivity of the oxide semiconductor maychange. Such a phenomenon causes variation in the electriccharacteristics of a transistor using the oxide semiconductor.

Further, the electric characteristics of a semiconductor device using anoxide semiconductor could possibly change by irradiation with visiblelight or ultraviolet light.

In view of the above problems, one object is to provide a semiconductordevice including an oxide semiconductor film, which has stable electriccharacteristics and high reliability.

Further, another object is to provide a manufacturing process of asemiconductor device, which enables mass production of highly reliablesemiconductor devices by using a large-sized substrate such as a motherglass.

A main point of one embodiment of the present invention is to form acrystalline oxide semiconductor film, without performing a plurality ofsteps, in one sputtering step in the following manner. By utilizing adifference in atomic weight of plural kinds of atoms included in atarget for an oxide semiconductor, zinc whose atomic weight is low ispreferentially deposited over an oxide insulating film so that a seedcrystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc is formed atleast on a surface of a film which is being formed; and tin, indium, orthe like whose atomic weight is high is deposited on the seed crystalwhile causing crystal growth. Note that the seed crystal including zincis not only formed on the surface of the film being formed, and may beformed in an interface with the oxide insulating film. Further, acrystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed by causing crystal growthusing the seed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zincas a nucleus, so that a single crystal oxide semiconductor film or asubstantially single crystal oxide semiconductor film which is anothermain point of one embodiment of the present invention is formed.

Further, another main point of one embodiment of the present inventionis to form a transistor using a crystalline oxide semiconductor filmwith a hexagonal crystal structure. The crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm is formed in the following manner. A seed crystal with a hexagonalcrystal structure including zinc is formed by a sputtering method overan oxide insulating film which is formed over a substrate, and crystalgrowth is caused using the seed crystal as a nucleus.

The crystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed by a sputteringmethod while a first heat treatment is performed at higher than or equalto 250° C. and lower than or equal to 350° C. in an oxygen atmosphere.Thus, the first heat treatment is performed in a treatment chamber. In asputtering apparatus used for the deposition, a distance between atarget and a substance is set to a distance which enables an elementwith low atomic weight to reach a surface of the substratepreferentially. As a result, zinc is preferentially deposited on anoxide insulating film, and the deposited zinc is oxidized, whereby aseed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc,typically a seed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structure includingzinc oxide is formed. Therefore, the seed crystal which has grown from asurface of the oxide insulating film can be formed. Further, bycontinuously performing sputtering, crystal growth is caused using theseed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc as anucleus, so that a crystalline oxide semiconductor film having ahexagonal crystal structure can be formed. In such a crystalline oxidesemiconductor film having a hexagonal crystal structure, bonds forforming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b plane parallel to asubstrate surface where a film is formed, and c-axes are substantiallyperpendicular to a plane surface of the substrate which is substantiallyparallel to the a-b plane.

Orderliness of the crystal structure is high in the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film having a hexagonal crystal structure where bonds forforming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b plane and c-axes areperpendicular to the plane surface of the substrate. FIG. 17 is a planTEM image of this crystalline oxide semiconductor film. FIG. 18 showspart of the enlarged image of FIG. 17, in which atoms are surrounded bywhite lines for easy understanding of a hexagonal lattice. A transistorincluding such a crystalline oxide semiconductor film has stableelectric characteristics and high reliability.

One reason for high reliability of a transistor including a crystallineoxide semiconductor film will be described below.

A crystalline oxide semiconductor has higher orderliness of a bondbetween metal and oxygen (-M-O-M-, where O represents an oxygen atom andM represents a metal atom) than an amorphous oxide semiconductor. Inother words, in the case where an oxide semiconductor has an amorphousstructure, the coordination number may vary according to the kind ofmetal atoms. In contrast, in the case of a crystalline oxidesemiconductor, the coordination number is substantially uniform.Accordingly, microscopic oxygen vacancies can be reduced, andinstability and charge transfer due to attachment or detachment of ahydrogen atom (including a hydrogen ion) or an alkali metal atom in a“space” described later can be reduced.

On the other hand, in the case of an amorphous structure, since thecoordination number varies according to the kind of metal atoms, theconcentration of metal atoms or oxygen atoms may be microscopicallyuneven and there may be some portions where no atom exists (“space”). Insuch a “space”, for example, a hydrogen atom (including a hydrogen ion)or an alkali metal atom is trapped and, in some cases, bonded to oxygen.Further, it is possible for those atoms to move through such a “space”.

Such movement of an atom may cause variation in characteristics of anoxide semiconductor, and thus the existence of such an atom leads to asignificant problem in reliability. In particular, such movement of anatom is caused by application of a high electric field or light energy;therefore, when an oxide semiconductor is used under such a condition,characteristics thereof are unstable. That is, the reliability of anamorphous oxide semiconductor is inferior to that of a crystalline oxidesemiconductor.

Hereinafter, a difference in reliability will be described usingactually obtained results on transistors (Sample 1 and Sample 2). Notethat Sample 2 that is actually obtained and described below includes acrystalline oxide semiconductor film obtained by forming a firstmaterial film at a film formation temperature of 200° C. and thenperforming heating at 450° C. in a nitrogen atmosphere and by forming asecond material film at a film formation temperature of 200° C. and thenperforming heating at 450° C. in a dry air atmosphere. Sample 2 includesthe crystalline oxide semiconductor film including the first and secondmaterial films of the same material; it is needless to say that the sameapplies even when the first and second material films include differentmaterials. Sample 1 that is used for comparison includes a crystallineoxide semiconductor film obtained by heating a single-layer materialfilm by RTA at 650° C. and then performing heating at 450° C. in a dryair atmosphere.

As a method for examining the reliability, an Id-Vg curve of atransistor is measured, which is obtained by measuring the current (Id)between a drain electrode and a source electrode of the transistor whenthe voltage (Vg) between a gate electrode and the source electrode ofthe transistor is changed while the transistor is being irradiated withlight. In a transistor including an oxide semiconductor film, when a −BTtest is performed, i.e., when a negative gate stress is applied, whilethe transistor is being irradiated with light, degradation in which thethreshold voltage of the transistor is changed is caused. Thisdegradation is also referred to as negative-bias temperature stressphoto-degradation.

Negative-bias temperature stress photo-degradation in Samples 1 and 2 isshown in FIG. 19.

In FIG. 19, the amount of change in Vth in Sample 2 is smaller than thatin Sample 1.

Then, photo-response characteristics of the transistor of Sample 1(L/W=3 μm/50 μm) before and after it is irradiated with light (wavelength: 400 nm, irradiation intensity: 3.5 mW/cm²) for 600 seconds weremeasured. FIG. 20A is the graph of photo-response characteristics (agraph of time dependence of photocurrent) which is made on the basis ofthe measurement results. Note that the source-drain voltage (Vd) is 0.1V.

Further, photo-response characteristics of the transistor of Sample 2(L/W=3 μm/50 μm) before and after it is irradiated with light (wavelength: 400 nm, irradiation intensity: 3.5 mW/cm²) for 600 seconds weremeasured. FIG. 20B is the graph of photo-response characteristics (agraph of time dependence of photocurrent) which is made on the basis ofthe measurement results.

Further, measurement was performed on a transistor which was formedunder the same manufacturing condition as Sample 2 and had a larger Wwidth (L/W=30 μm/10000 μm) and a transistor which was formed under thesame manufacturing condition as Sample 2, had the larger W width, andwas supplied with higher Vd (Vd=15V). Then, fitting was performed on themeasurement results, so that two kinds of relaxation time (τ1 and τ2)were obtained. The calculation results thereof and the maximum currentvalue (Imax) are shown in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Imax [A] τ₁ [sec] τ₂ [sec] Sample 1: L/W = 3/50, Vd = 0.1 V4.60E−11 2.6 90 Sample 2: L/W = 3/50, Vd = 0.1 V 9.20E−12 0.4 43 L/W =30/100000 μm, Vd = 0.1 V 6.20E−11 0.3 39 L/W = 30/100000 μm, Vd = 15 V9.20E−10 0.4 75

Note that the two kinds of relaxation time (τ1 and τ2) depend on thetrap density. A method for calculating τ1 and τ2 is referred to as aphoto-response defect evaluation method.

Table 1 shows that each of the transistors formed under themanufacturing condition of Sample 2, in which negative-bias temperaturestress photo-degradation is small, has higher photo-responsecharacteristics than Sample 1. Accordingly, it can be found that higherphoto-response characteristics are obtained as negative-bias temperaturestress photo-degradation is smaller.

One reason for that will be described. If there exists a deep donorlevel and a hole is trapped by the donor level, the hole might becomefixed charge by a negative bias applied to a gate in negative-biastemperature stress photo-degradation and the relaxation time of acurrent value might be increased in photo-response. A reason why atransistor including a crystalline oxide semiconductor film has smallnegative-bias temperature stress photo-degradation and highphoto-response characteristics is thought to be attributed to lowdensity of the above donor level that traps a hole. FIG. 21 is aschematic diagram of an assumed donor level.

In order to examine changes in the depth and density of the donor level,measurement using low-temperature PL was performed. FIG. 22 showsmeasurement results in the case where the substrate temperature information of an oxide semiconductor film is 400° C. and in the casewhere the substrate temperature in formation of an oxide semiconductorfilm is 200° C.

According to FIG. 22, when the substrate temperature in formation of theoxide semiconductor film is 400° C., the peak intensity in the vicinityof about 1.8 eV is much lower than that in the case where the substratetemperature is 200° C. The measurement results indicate that the densityof the donor level is significantly reduced while the depth thereof isnot changed.

Oxide semiconductor films were formed under varied conditions of thesubstrate temperature, were compared to each other, and were eachevaluated as a single film.

Sample A has a structure in which a 50-nm-thick oxide semiconductor filmis formed over a quartz substrate (thickness: 0.5 mm). Note that theoxide semiconductor film is formed under the following condition: atarget for an oxide semiconductor (a target for an In—Ga—Zn—O-basedoxide semiconductor (In₂O₃:Ga₂O₃:ZnO=1:1:2 [molar ratio])) is used; thedistance between the substrate and the target is 60 mm; the substratetemperature is 200° C.; the pressure is 0.4 Pa; the direct current (DC)power is 0.5 kW; and the atmosphere is a mixed atmosphere of argon (30sccm) and oxygen (15 sccm).

The electron spin resonance (ESR) is measured at room temperature (300K). Then, a value of a magnetic field (H₀) where a microwave (frequency:9.5 GHz) is absorbed is used for an equation g=hv/βH₀, so that aparameter of a g-factor is obtained. Note that h and β represent thePlanck constant and the Bohr magneton, respectively, and are bothconstants.

FIG. 23A is a graph showing the g-factor of Sample A.

Sample B is formed in such a manner that deposition is performed underthe same condition as Sample A and then heating is performed at 450° C.for 1 hour in a nitrogen atmosphere. FIG. 23B is a graph showing theg-factor of Sample B.

Sample C is formed in such a manner that deposition is performed underthe same condition as Sample A and then heating is performed at 450° C.for 1 hour in a mixed atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen. FIG. 23C is agraph showing the g-factor of Sample C.

In the graph of the g-factor of Sample B, a signal which is g=1.93 canbe observed and the spin density is 1.8×10¹⁸ [spins/cm³]. On the otherhand, the signal of g=1.93 cannot be observed in the result of ESRmeasurement of Sample C, and thus the signal g=1.93 is attributed to adangling bond of metal in the oxide semiconductor film.

In addition, Samples D, E, F, and G each have a structure in which a100-nm-thick oxide semiconductor film is formed over a quartz substrate(thickness: 0.5 mm). Note that the oxide semiconductor film is formedunder the following condition: a target for an oxide semiconductor (atarget for an In—Ga—Zn—O-based oxide semiconductor(In₂O₃:Ga₂O₃:ZnO=1:1:2 [molar ratio])) is used; the distance between thesubstrate and the target is 60 mm; the pressure is 0.4 Pa; the directcurrent (DC) power is 0.5 kW; and the atmosphere is a mixed atmosphereof argon (30 sccm) and oxygen (15 sccm). Samples D, E, F, and G areformed at different substrate temperatures: room temperature for SampleD, 200° C. for Sample E, 300° C. for Sample F, and 400° C. for Sample G.

FIG. 24 shows ESR spectra of Samples D, E, F, and G.

In Sample G whose substrate temperature in deposition (Tsub) is 400° C.,the signal g=1.93 can be observed and the spin density is 1.3×10¹⁸[spins/cm³]. The spin density is the same level as the spin density ofthe signal g=1.93 obtained in Sample B.

FIG. 25 is a graph of ESR measurement result of Sample B and shows adifference (anisotropy) in the g-factor between the case where amagnetic field is applied perpendicularly to a substrate surface (aspectrum represented by a solid line) and the case where a magneticfield is applied in parallel to the substrate surface (a spectrumrepresented by a dashed line).

FIG. 26 is a graph of ESR measurement result of Sample H which is formedin such a manner that deposition is performed under the same conditionas Sample G and then heating is performed at 450° C. for 1 hour in anitrogen atmosphere, and shows a difference (anisotropy) in the g-factorbetween the case where a magnetic field is applied perpendicularly to asubstrate surface (a spectrum represented by a solid line) and the casewhere a magnetic field is applied in parallel to the substrate surface(a spectrum represented by a dashed line).

As a result of comparison between FIG. 25 and FIG. 26, it is found thatthe change Δg in the g-factor due to anisotropy is 0.001 or lower at asubstrate temperature of 200° C. whereas the change Δg is increased toapproximately 0.003 at a substrate temperature of 400° C. It isgenerally known that the anisotropy is increased as the crystallinitybecomes higher (directions of orbits are more aligned). Thus, aconclusion is led that in a film formed at a substrate temperature of400° C., the directions of dangling bonds of metal generated by heatingat 450° C. for 1 hour in a nitrogen atmosphere are well aligned ascompared to those in a film formed at a substrate temperature of 200°C.; that is, the former has higher crystallinity than the latter.

Further, ESR measurement was performed under varied conditions of thethickness of an oxide semiconductor film. Change in the intensity of thesignal g=1.93 and total spin number are shown in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28,respectively. From the results in FIG. 27 and FIG. 28, it is confirmedthat the intensity of the signal g=1.93 is increased as the thickness ofthe oxide semiconductor film is increased. This indicates that adangling bond that causes the signal g=1.93 exists not at an interfacebetween the quartz substrate and the oxide semiconductor film or asurface of the oxide semiconductor film but in a bulk of the oxidesemiconductor film.

It is found from these results that a dangling bond of metal hasanisotropy and that the anisotropy is increased as the depositiontemperature gets higher because higher crystallinity is obtained athigher deposition temperature. In addition, it is found that thedangling bond of metal exists not at the interface or surface but in thebulk.

From the above results, an increase in anisotropy of the g-factor, whichis considered to be caused by improvement in crystallinity, was observedas the substrate temperature in deposition is increased. Further, theresults indicates that the dangling bond that causes the signal g=1.93dependents on the film thickness and exists in a bulk of IGZO.

Note that the oxide insulating film in contact with the crystallineoxide semiconductor film is preferably formed using an oxide insulatingfilm from which some amount of oxygen is released by heat treatment. Theoxide insulating film from which part of contained oxygen is released byheat treatment is preferably an oxide insulating film which containsoxygen exceeding the stoichiometry. A second heat treatment is performedafter the crystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed, whereby oxygenin the oxide insulating film diffuses to the inside of the crystallineoxide semiconductor film or an interface between the oxide insulatingfilm and the crystalline oxide semiconductor film; thus, oxygendeficiency in the crystalline oxide semiconductor film can be reduced.The second heat treatment is performed at a temperature higher than orequal to 150° C. and lower than the strain point of the substrate,preferably higher than or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to450° C.

In addition, the pressure of a treatment chamber in a sputteringapparatus is set to 0.4 Pa or less, whereby entry of impurities such asalkali metal or hydrogen to an object to be formed or a surface of theobject to be formed can be suppressed. Note that hydrogen contained inthe object includes a hydrogen molecule, water, a hydroxyl group, or ahydride in some cases in addition to a hydrogen atom.

A distance between a target and a substrate (a T-S distance) is greaterthan or equal to 40 mm and less than or equal to 300 mm (preferably,greater than or equal to 60 mm). As the T-S distance is increased, zincwith the lowest atomic weight in the metal elements contained in thesputtering target for an oxide semiconductor is more easily deposited onthe substrate side than the other elements with larger atomic weightthan zinc, and bonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed. Thus,the long T-S distance is preferable.

During deposition by a sputtering method, the temperature of the surfacewhere a film is formed is preferably higher than or equal to 250° C. andlower than or equal to the upper limit of heat treatment of thesubstrate. The temperature at which entry of impurities such as water orhydrogen into a film to be formed is prevented and the impurity isreleased to a vapor phase in the chamber is 250° C. In addition, theupper limit of a temperature of the surface where a film is formed by asputtering method is the upper limit of the heat treatment temperatureof the substrate or the upper limit of the temperature of the film to beformed (if the temperature exceeds the latter upper limit, components inthe film significantly change).

Moreover, when the leakage rate of the treatment chamber of thesputtering apparatus is set to lower than or equal to 1×10⁻¹⁰Pa·m³/sec., entry of impurities such as an alkali metal or a hydrideinto the crystalline oxide semiconductor film that is being formed by asputtering method can be reduced. Further, with use of an entrapmentvacuum pump as an evacuation system, counter flow of impurities such asan alkali metal, a hydrogen atom, a hydrogen molecule, water, a hydroxylgroup, or a hydride from the evacuation system can be reduced.

When the purity of the target is set to 99.99% or higher, alkali metal,a hydrogen atom, a hydrogen molecule, water, a hydroxyl group, ahydride, or the like entering the crystalline oxide semiconductor filmcan be reduced. In addition, when the target is used, the concentrationof alkali metal such as lithium, sodium, or potassium can be reduced inthe crystalline oxide semiconductor film.

Under the above deposition conditions, a crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm is formed. As a result, purification of materials is performedduring deposition, and accordingly the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm including an extremely small amount of impurities in which theconcentration of alkali metal is lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³and the concentration of hydrogen is lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁹atoms/cm³ can be formed. By reduction of impurities in the crystallineoxide semiconductor film, crystal growth of a seed crystal and thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film are further promoted, so that asingle crystal oxide semiconductor film or a substantially singlecrystal oxide semiconductor film can be formed.

As a structure of a transistor, a top-gate transistor or a bottom-gatetransistor can be employed as appropriate. In the case where a top-gatetransistor is manufactured, the top-gate transistor is formed asfollows: over an oxide insulating film formed over an insulatingsurface, a crystalline oxide semiconductor film having a hexagonalcrystal structure is formed by a sputtering method in which a seedcrystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc is formed andcrystal growth is caused using the seed crystal as nucleus; a heattreatment is performed on the crystal oxide semiconductor film; thecrystalline oxide semiconductor which has been subjected to the heattreatment is then selectively etched; a pair of electrodes is formedover the selectively etched crystalline oxide semiconductor film; a gateinsulating film is formed over the selectively etched crystalline oxidesemiconductor film and the pair of electrodes; and a gate electrode isformed over the gate insulating film. In the case where a bottom-gatetransistor is manufactured, the bottom-gate transistor is formed asfollows: a gate electrode is formed over an insulating surface; a gateinsulating film comprising an oxide insulating film is formed over thegate electrode; a crystalline oxide semiconductor film having ahexagonal crystal structure is formed over the gate insulating film by asputtering method in which a seed crystal with a hexagonal crystalstructure including zinc is formed and crystal growth is caused usingthe seed crystal as a nucleus; a heat treatment is performed on thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film; the crystalline oxidesemiconductor which has been subjected to the heat treatment is thenselectively etched; and a pair of electrodes is formed over theselectively etched crystalline oxide semiconductor film.

A transistor, in which a channel region is included in a crystallineoxide semiconductor film having a hexagonal crystal structure wherebonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b plane andc-axes are substantially perpendicular to a plan surface of a substratewhich is substantially parallel to the a-b plane, is manufactured,whereby the amount of change in the threshold voltage of the transistorbetween before and after performance of a bias-thermal stress (BT) testor light irradiation of the transistor can be reduced. Thus, thetransistor can have stable electric characteristics. Further, by settinga temperature of the first heat treatment and the second heat treatmentto lower than or equal to 450° C., mass production of highly reliablesemiconductor devices can be performed with use of a large-sizedsubstrate such as mother glass.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1A to 1E are cross-sectional views illustrating a method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view illustrating a process for manufacturing asemiconductor device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are schematic diagrams for describing a sputteringapparatus.

FIGS. 4A and 4B are schematic diagrams illustrating a crystal structureof a seed crystal.

FIGS. 5A to 5D are cross-sectional views illustrating a process formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 6 is a top view illustrating a process for manufacturing asemiconductor device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 7A to 7C are cross-sectional views illustrating a process formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view illustrating a process for manufacturing asemiconductor device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 9A to 9D are cross-sectional views illustrating a process formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 10 is a top view illustrating a process for manufacturing asemiconductor device according to one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 12A to 12E are cross-sectional views illustrating a process formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to one embodiment of thepresent invention.

FIG. 13 is a top view illustrating an example of a manufacturingapparatus used to manufacture one embodiment of the present invention.

FIGS. 14A to 14C are a cross-sectional view, a top view, and a circuitdiagram, respectively, illustrating one embodiment of the presentinvention.

FIG. 15A is a block diagram illustrating one embodiment of the presentinvention and FIGS. 15B and 15C are equivalent circuit diagrams thereof.

FIGS. 16A to 16D are external views of electronic devices eachillustrating one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a plan TEM image.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged image of part of FIG. 17, in which one of ahexagonal shape is shown by a white line.

FIG. 19 is a graph for describing negative-bias temperature stress.

FIGS. 20A and 20B are graphs for describing time dependence ofphotocurrent.

FIG. 21 is a schematic diagram showing a donor level.

FIG. 22 is a graph showing measurement results of low-temperature PL.

FIGS. 23A to 23C are graphs showing results of ESR measurement.

FIG. 24 is a graph showing results of ESR measurement.

FIG. 25 is a graph showing results of ESR measurement.

FIG. 26 is a graph showing results of ESR measurement.

FIG. 27 is a graph showing results of ESR measurement.

FIG. 28 is a graph showing results of ESR measurement.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that thepresent invention is not limited to the following description, and itwill be easily understood by those skilled in the art that variouschanges and modifications can be made without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not beconstrued as being limited to the description in the followingembodiments. Note that in structures of the present invention describedhereinafter, like portions or portions having similar functions aredenoted by the same reference numerals in different drawings, anddescription thereof is not repeated.

Note that in each drawing described in this specification, the size, thelayer thickness, or the region of each component is exaggerated forclarity in some cases. Therefore, embodiments of the present inventionare not limited to such scales.

Note that terms such as “first”, “second”, and “third” in thisspecification are used in order to avoid confusion among components, andthe terms do not limit the components numerically. Therefore, forexample, the term “first” can be replaced with the term “second”,“third”, or the like as appropriate.

[Embodiment 1]

In this embodiment, a method for manufacturing a crystalline oxidesemiconductor and a method for manufacturing a transistor including thecrystalline oxide semiconductor will be described with reference toFIGS. 1A to 1E and FIG. 2. FIGS. 1A to 1E are cross-sectional viewsillustrating a manufacturing process of a transistor as one mode of astructure of a semiconductor device. The cross-sectional view takenalong the dot-dash line A-B in FIG. 2 corresponds to FIG. 1E. In thisembodiment, the transistor having a top gate structure is described.

As illustrated in FIG. 1A, an oxide insulating film 53 is formed over asubstrate 51.

The substrate 51 should have at least heat resistance high enough towithstand heat treatment performed later. When a glass substrate is usedas the substrate 51, a glass substrate whose strain point is higher thanor equal to 730° C. is preferably used. As the glass substrate, forexample, a glass material such as aluminosilicate glass,aluminoborosilicate glass, or barium borosilicate glass is used. Notethat a glass substrate containing BaO and B₂O₃ so that the amount of BaOis larger than that of B₂O₃ is preferably used. In the case where thesubstrate 51 is mother glass, the substrate may have any of thefollowing sizes: the first generation (320 mm×400 mm), the secondgeneration (400 mm×500 mm), the third generation (550 mm×650 mm), thefourth generation (680 mm×880 mm or 730 mm×920 mm), the fifth generation(1000 mm×1200 mm or 1100 mm×1250 mm), the sixth generation (1500 mm×1800mm), the seventh generation (1900 mm×2200 mm), the eighth generation(2160 mm×2460 mm), the ninth generation (2400 mm×2800 mm or 2450 mm×3050mm), the tenth generation (2950 mm×3400 mm), and the like. The motherglass drastically shrinks when the treatment temperature is high and thetreatment time is long. Thus, in the case where mass production isperformed with use of the mother glass, the preferable heatingtemperature in the manufacturing process is lower than or equal to 600°C., further preferably, lower than or equal to 450° C.

Instead of the glass substrate, a substrate formed of an insulator, suchas a ceramic substrate, a quartz substrate, or a sapphire substrate canbe used. Alternatively, crystallized glass or the like may be used.Further alternatively, a substrate obtained by forming an insulatingfilm over a surface of a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon waferor a conductive substrate made of a metal material can be used.

The oxide insulating film 53 is formed using an oxide insulating filmfrom which part of contained oxygen is released by heat treatment. Theoxide insulating film from which part of contained oxygen is released byheat treatment is preferably an oxide insulating film which containsoxygen exceeding the stoichiometry. The oxide insulating film from whichpart of contained oxygen is released by heat treatment can diffuseoxygen into the crystalline oxide semiconductor film by heat treatment.Typical examples of the oxide insulating film 53 include films ofsilicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, aluminumoxide, aluminum oxynitride, gallium oxide, hafnium oxide, yttrium oxide,and the like.

The oxide insulating film having higher proportion of oxygen than thatof the stoichiometry releases part of contained oxygen by heattreatment. To release oxygen by heating means that the released amountof oxygen which is converted to oxygen atoms is greater than or equal to1×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³, preferably greater than or equal to 1×10²⁰ atoms/cm³,further preferably greater than or equal to 3×10²⁰ atoms/cm³ in thermaldesorption spectroscopy (TDS).

Here, a method in which the amount of released oxygen is measured bybeing converted into oxygen atoms using TDS analysis will now bedescribed.

The amount of released gas in TDS analysis is proportional to theintegral value of a spectrum. Therefore, the amount of released gas canbe calculated from the ratio between the integral value of a spectrum ofan oxide insulating film and the reference value of a standard sample.The reference value of a standard sample refers to the ratio of thedensity of a predetermined atom contained in a sample to the integralvalue of a spectrum.

For example, the number of the released oxygen molecules (N_((O2))) froman oxide insulating film can be found according to a NumericalExpression 1 with the TDS analysis results of a silicon wafer containinghydrogen at a predetermined density which is the standard sample and theTDS analysis results of the oxide insulating film. Here, all spectrahaving a mass number of 32 which are obtained by the TDS analysis areassumed to originate from an oxygen molecule. CH₃OH, which is given as agas having a mass number of 32, is not taken into consideration on theassumption that it is unlikely to be present. Further, an oxygenmolecule including an oxygen atom having a mass number of 17 or 18 whichis an isotope of an oxygen atom is also not taken into considerationbecause the proportion of such a molecule in the natural world isminimal.N_((O2))=N_((H2))/S_((H2))×S_((O2))×α  (Numerical Expression 1)

N_((H2)) is the value obtained by conversion of the number of hydrogenmolecules released from the standard sample into densities. S_((H2)) isan integral value of spectrum of a standard sample which is analyzed byTDS. Here, the reference value of the standard sample is set toN_((H2))/S_((H2)). S_((O2)) is an integral value of spectrum when theoxide insulating film is analyzed by TDS. α is a coefficient whichinfluences spectrum intensity in TDS analysis. The detail of NumericalExpression 1 is referred to Japanese Patent No. 3298974. Note that theamount of released oxygen from the above oxide insulating film ismeasured with a thermal desorption spectroscopy apparatus produced byESCO Ltd., EMD-WA1000S/W using a silicon wafer containing hydrogen atomsat 1×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³ as the standard sample.

Further, in the TDS analysis, some amount of oxygen is detected as anoxygen atom. The ratio between oxygen molecules and oxygen atoms can becalculated from the ionization rate of the oxygen molecules. Note that,since the above a includes the ionization rate of the oxygen molecules,the number of the released oxygen atoms can also be estimated throughthe evaluation of the number of the released oxygen molecules.

Note that N_((O2)) is the number of the released oxygen molecules. Forthe oxide insulating film, the amount of released oxygen when convertedinto oxygen atoms is twice the number of the released oxygen molecules.

The oxide insulating film 53 has a thickness greater than or equal to 50nm, preferably greater than or equal to 200 nm and less than or equal to500 nm. With use of the thick oxide insulating film 53, the amount ofoxygen released from the oxide insulating film 53 can be increased, anddefects at the interface between the oxide insulating film 53 and anoxide semiconductor film to be formed later can be reduced, which can beachieved by an increase in the thickness.

The oxide insulating film 53 is formed by a sputtering method, a CVDmethod or the like. Preferably, the oxide insulating film from whichpart of contained oxygen is released by heat treatment is easily formedby a sputtering method.

When the oxide insulating film from which part of contained oxygen isreleased by heat treatment is formed by a sputtering method, the amountof oxygen contained in a deposition gas is preferably large, and oxygen,a mixed gas in oxygen and a rare gas, or the like can be used.Typically, the oxygen concentration of a deposition gas is preferablyhigher than or equal to 6% and lower than or equal to 100%.

A silicon oxide film can be formed as a typical example of such an oxideinsulating film from which part of contained oxygen is released by heattreatment. In that case, the silicon oxide film is preferably formed bya RF sputtering method under the following conditions: quartz(preferably synthetic quartz) is used as a target; the substratetemperature is higher than or equal to 30° C. and lower than or equal to450° C. (preferably higher than or equal to 70° C. and lower than orequal to 200° C.); the distance between the substrate and the target(the T-S distance) is greater than or equal to 20 mm and less than orequal to 400 mm (preferably greater than or equal to 40 mm and less thanor equal to 200 mm); the pressure is higher than or equal to 0.1 Pa andlower than or equal to 4 Pa (preferably higher than or equal to 0.2 Paand lower than or equal to 1.2 Pa); the high-frequency power is higherthan or equal to 0.5 kW and lower than or equal to 12 kW (preferablyhigher than or equal to 1 kW and lower than or equal to 5 kW); and theproportion of oxygen (O₂/(O₂+Ar)) in the deposition gas is higher thanor equal to 1% and lower than or equal to 100% (preferably higher thanor equal to 6% and lower than or equal to 100%). Note that a silicontarget may be used as the target instead of the quartz (preferablysynthetic quartz) target. In addition, oxygen alone may be used as thedeposition gas.

Note that in the case where a glass substrate including an impurity suchas an alkali metal is used, a nitride insulating film such as a siliconnitride film or an aluminum nitride film may be formed between thesubstrate 51 and the oxide insulating film 53 in order to prevent entryof an alkali metal. The nitride insulating film can be formed by a CVDmethod, a sputtering method, or the like. Since an alkali metal such aslithium, sodium, or potassium is an impurity, the contained amount ofsuch an alkali metal is preferably small.

Next, over the oxide insulating film 53, an oxide semiconductor film isformed to a thickness greater than or equal to 30 nm and less than orequal to 50 μm by a sputtering method with a sputtering apparatus.

Here, a treatment chamber of the sputtering apparatus is described withreference to FIG. 3A. An evacuation unit 33 and a gas supply unit 35 areconnected to a treatment chamber 31. In the treatment chamber 31, asubstrate support 40 and a target 41 are provided. The target 41 isconnected to a power supply device 37.

The treatment chamber 31 is grounded. When the leakage rate of thetreatment chamber 31 is lower than or equal to 1×10⁻¹⁰ Pa·m³/sec., entryof an impurity into a film to be formed by a sputtering method can bedecreased.

In order to reduce the leakage rate, internal leakage, as well asexternal leakage, needs to be decreased. The external leakage refers toinflow of a gas from the outside of a vacuum system through a minutehole, a sealing defect, or the like. The internal leakage is due toleakage through a partition, such as a valve, in a vacuum system or dueto released gas from an internal member. Measures need to be taken fromboth aspects of external leakage and internal leakage in order that theleakage rate be less than or equal to 1×10⁻¹⁰ Pa·m³/sec.

In order to decrease external leakage, an open/close portion of thetreatment chamber is preferably sealed with a metal gasket. For themetal gasket, a metal material covered with iron fluoride, aluminumoxide, or chromium oxide is preferably used. The metal gasket realizeshigher adhesion than an O-ring, and can decrease the external leakage.Further, by use of a metal material covered with iron fluoride, aluminumoxide, chromium oxide, or the like which is in the passive state, areleased gas containing hydrogen generated from the metal gasket issuppressed, so that the internal leakage can also be decreased.

As a member forming an inner wall of the treatment chamber 31, aluminum,chromium, titanium, zirconium, nickel, or vanadium, from which theamount of a released gas containing hydrogen is smaller, is used. Analloy material containing iron, chromium, nickel, and the like coveredwith the above-mentioned material may be used. The alloy materialcontaining iron, chromium, nickel, and the like is rigid, resistant toheat, and suitable for processing. Here, when surface unevenness of themember is decreased by polishing or the like to reduce the surface area,the released gas can be reduced. Alternatively, the above-mentionedmember of the film formation apparatus may be covered with ironfluoride, aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, or the like which is in thepassive state.

The member of the inner wall of the treatment chamber 31 is preferablyformed with only a metal material as much as possible. For example, inthe case where a viewing window formed with quartz or the like isprovided, a surface is preferably covered thinly with iron fluoride,aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, or the like which is in the passivestate so as to suppress the released gas.

Furthermore, it is preferable to provide a refiner for a sputtering gasjust in front of the treatment chamber 31. At this time, the length of apipe between the gas refiner and the treatment chamber is less than orequal to 5 m, preferably less than or equal to 1 m. When the length ofthe pipe is less than or equal to 5 m or less than or equal to 1 m, theeffect of the released gas from the pipe can be decreased accordingly.

A pipe through which a sputtering gas flows from a cylinder to thetreatment chamber 31 is preferably formed using a metal pipe whoseinside is covered with iron fluoride, aluminum oxide, chromium oxide, orthe like which is in the passive state. With the above-mentioned pipe,the amount of released gas containing hydrogen is small and entry ofimpurities into the deposition gas can be reduced as compared with aSUS316L-EP pipe, for example. Further, a high-performance ultra-compactmetal gasket joint (a UPG joint) is preferably used as a joint of thepipe. In addition, a structure where all the materials of the pipe aremetal materials is preferable, in which the effect of the generatedreleased gas or the external leakage can be decreased as compared to astructure where resin or the like is used.

An adsorbate present at the inner wall of the treatment chamber 31 doesnot affect the pressure in the treatment chamber because it is adsorbedon the inner wall, but the adsorbate leads to release of gas at the timeof the evacuation of the treatment chamber. Therefore, although theleakage rate and the evacuation rate do not have a correlation, it isimportant that the adsorbate present in the treatment chamber bedesorbed as much as possible and evacuation be performed in advance withuse of a pump having high evacuation capability. Note that the treatmentchamber may be subjected to baking for promotion of desorption of theadsorbate. By the baking, the rate of desorption of the adsorbate can beincreased about tenfold. The baking should be performed at a temperaturehigher than or equal to 100° C. and lower than or equal to 450° C. Atthis time, when the adsorbate is removed while an inert gas isintroduced, the rate of desorption of water or the like, which isdifficult to desorb only by evacuation, can be further increased.

The evacuation unit 33 can remove an impurity in the treatment chamber31 and control the pressure in the treatment chamber 31. An entrapmentvacuum pump is preferably used for the evacuation unit 33. For example,a cryopump, an ion pump, or a titanium sublimation pump is preferablyused. With use of the above entrapment vacuum pump, the amount ofhydrogen contained in the oxide semiconductor film can be reduced.

Evacuation of the treatment chamber 31 is preferably performed with arough vacuum pump, such as a dry pump, and a high vacuum pump such as asputter ion pump, a turbo molecular pump or a cryopump, in appropriatecombination. The turbo molecular pump has an outstanding capability inevacuation of a large-sized molecule, whereas it has a low capability inevacuation of hydrogen or water. Hence, combination of a cryopump havinga high capability in evacuation of water and a sputter ion pump having ahigh capability in evacuation of hydrogen is effective.

Note that hydrogen contained in the oxide semiconductor film mayindicate a hydrogen molecule, water, a hydroxyl group, or a hydride insome cases, in addition to a hydrogen atom.

The gas supply unit 35 is for supplying a gas with which a target issputtered into the treatment chamber 31. The gas supply unit 35 includesa cylinder filled with gases, a pressure adjusting valve, a stop valve,a mass flow controller, and the like. Providing a refiner for the gassupply unit 35 makes it possible to reduce an impurity contained in agas introduced into the treatment chamber 31. As the gas with which thetarget is sputtered, a rear gas such as helium, neon, argon, xenon, orkrypton is used. Alternatively, a mixed gas of oxygen and one of theabove rare gases can be used.

As the power supply device 37, an RF power supply device, an AC powersupply device, a DC power supply device, or the like can be used asappropriate. When a magnet is provided inside or outside a targetsupport for supporting the target, which is not illustrated,high-density plasma can be confined in the periphery of the target, sothat an improvement in the deposition rate and a reduction in plasmadamage on the substrate can be achieved. This method is referred to as amagnetron sputtering method. Moreover, when the magnet can be rotated inthe magnetron sputtering method, non-uniformity of a magnetic field canbe suppressed, so that efficiency of use of the target is increased andvariation in film quality in the substrate plane can be reduced.

The substrate support 40 is grounded. The substrate support 40 isprovided with a heater. As the heater, a heat treatment apparatus forheating an object by heat conduction or heat radiation from a heatingelement such as a resistance heating element. For example, an electricfurnace or a rapid thermal anneal (RTA) apparatus such as a gas rapidthermal anneal (GRTA) apparatus or a lamp rapid thermal anneal (LRTA)apparatus can be used. An LRTA apparatus is an apparatus for heating anobject to be processed by radiation of light (an electromagnetic wave)emitted from a lamp such as a halogen lamp, a metal halide lamp, a xenonarc lamp, a carbon arc lamp, a high pressure sodium lamp, or a highpressure mercury lamp. A GRTA apparatus is an apparatus for heattreatment using a high-temperature gas.

As the target 41, a metal oxide target including zinc can be used. As atypical example of the target 41, a four-component metal oxide such asan In—Sn—Ga—Zn-based metal oxide, a three-component metal oxide such asan In—Ga—Zn-based metal oxide, an In—Sn—Zn-based metal oxide, anIn—Al—Zn-based metal oxide, a Sn—Ga—Zn-based metal oxide, anAl—Ga—Zn-based metal oxide, or a Sn—Al—Zn-based metal oxide, atwo-component metal oxide such as an In—Zn-based metal oxide or aSn—Zn-based metal oxide can be used.

As an example of the target 41, a metal oxide target including In, Ga,and Zn has a composition ratio where In₂O₃:Ga₂O₃:ZnO=1:1:1 [molarratio]. Alternatively, a target having a composition ratio whereIn₂O₃:Ga₂O₃:ZnO=1:1:2 [molar ratio], a target having a composition ratiowhere In₂O₃:Ga₂O₃:ZnO=1:1:4 [molar ratio], or a target having acomposition ratio where In₂O₃:Ga₂O₃:ZnO=2:1:8 [molar ratio] can be used.

The distance between the target 41 and the substrate 51 (the T-Sdistance) is set to a distance which enables an element whose atomicweight is low to preferentially reach the oxide insulating film 53 overthe substrate 51.

Next, a method for forming a crystalline oxide semiconductor film overthe oxide insulating film is described.

As illustrated in FIG. 3A, the substrate 51 over which the oxideinsulating film 53 is formed is placed on the substrate support 40 inthe treatment chamber 31 of the sputtering apparatus. Next, a gas forsputtering the target 41 is introduced from the gas supply unit 35 intothe treatment chamber 31. The purity of the target 41 is higher than orequal to 99.9%, preferably higher than or equal to 99.99%. Then, poweris supplied to the power supply device 37 connected to the target 41. Asa result, with use of an ion 43 and an electron in the sputtering gasintroduced from the gas supply unit 35 into the treatment chamber 31,the target 41 is sputtered. In this embodiment, the distance between thetarget 41 and the substrate 51 is set so that an element whose atomicweight is low can preferentially reach the oxide insulating film 53 onthe substrate 51 to be deposited. Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, anelement 45 with the low atomic weight among elements contained in thetarget 41 is preferentially transferred to the substrate side more thanan element 47 with the high atomic weight.

In the target 41 used in this embodiment, zinc has a lower atomic weightthan tin and indium. Thus, zinc is preferentially deposited on the oxideinsulating film 53. Further, an atmosphere in the deposition containsoxygen, and the substrate support 40 is provided with a heater forheating the substrate and the deposited film during deposition. Thus,the zinc deposited on the oxide insulating film 53 is oxidized, so thata seed crystal 55 a with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc,typically, a seed crystal including zinc oxide with a hexagonal crystalstructure is formed.

In the case where the target 41 includes an atom of aluminum or the likewith lower atomic weight than zinc, aluminum, as well as zinc, ispreferentially deposited on the oxide insulating film 53.

The seed crystal 55 a has a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc.In such a structure, bonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed inthe a-b plane, and c-axes are substantially perpendicular to a planesurface of the substrate which is substantially parallel to the a-bplane. Here, a crystal with a hexagonal structure including zinc, inwhich bonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b plane,and c-axes are substantially perpendicular to a plane surface of thesubstrate which is substantially parallel to the a-b plane, is describedwith reference to FIGS. 4A and 4B. As a typical example of a crystalwith a hexagonal structure including zinc, zinc oxide is used fordescription. Black spheres represent zinc, and white spheres representoxygen. FIG. 4A is a schematic diagram of zinc oxide with a hexagonalstructure in the a-b plane, and FIG. 4B is a schematic diagram of zincoxide with a hexagonal structure in which the vertical direction is thec-axis direction. As illustrated in FIG. 4A, in a plan top surface ofthe a-b plane, zinc and oxygen are bonded to form a hexagonal shape. Asillustrated in FIG. 4B, layers in each of which zinc and oxygen arebonded to form hexagonal lattices are stacked, and the c-axis directionis perpendicular to the a-b plane.

The seed crystal 55 a includes, in the c-axis direction, at least oneatomic layer in which bonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed inthe a-b plane.

As a sputtering as, a rare gas (typically argon), an oxygen gas, or amixed gas of a rare gas and oxygen is used as appropriate. It ispreferable that a high-purity gas from which impurities such ashydrogen, water, a hydroxyl group, and a hydride are removed be used asa sputtering gas.

The target 41 is continuously sputtered with use of the sputtering gas,whereby atoms included in the target are deposited on the seed crystal55 a. At this time, crystal growth is caused with use of the seedcrystal 55 a as a nucleus, so that a crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm 55 b with a hexagonal crystal structure can be formed on the seedcrystal 55 a. Note that since the substrate 51 is heated by the heaterprovided for the substrate support 40, crystal growth of the atomsdeposited on the surface is performed with use of the seed crystal 55 aas a nucleus while the atoms are oxidized; a crystalline oxidesemiconductor film can be accordingly formed.

The temperature of the substrate heated by the heater is higher than orequal to 200° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., preferably higherthan or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 350° C. Filmformation is performed while the substrate is heated at higher than orequal to 200° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C., preferably higherthan or equal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 350° C., whereby afirst heat treatment is performed. Note that the temperature of asurface where a film is formed in the sputtering is higher than or equalto 250° C. and lower than or equal to the upper limit of the heatingtreatment of the substrate.

In formation of the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 b, crystalgrowth of an atom with high atomic weight on a surface of the target 41and of a sputtered atom with low atomic weight after formation of theseed crystal 55 a is caused with use of the seed crystal 55 a as anucleus while the atoms are oxidized. Thus, like the seed crystal 55 a,the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 b has a hexagonal crystalstructure including zinc, in which bonds for forming hexagonal latticesare formed in the a-b plane and c-axes are substantially perpendicularto a plan surface of the substrate which is substantially parallel tothe a-b plane. That is, a crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55including the seed crystal 55 a and the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm 55 b has a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc, in whichbonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b plane whichis parallel to a surface of the oxide insulating film 53 and c-axes aresubstantially perpendicular to a plan surface of the substrate which issubstantially parallel to the a-b plane. The crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 55 described in this embodiment does not have anamorphous structure but a crystalline structure, ideally, a singlecrystal structure, and is a crystalline (also referred to as C-AxisAligned Crystal (CAAC)) oxide semiconductor in which a c-axis issubstantially perpendicular to a plan surface of the substrate.

When the pressure of the treatment chamber including the substratesupport 40 and the target 41 is lower than or equal to 0.4 Pa,impurities such an alkali metal or hydrogen entering a surface of thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film or the inside thereof can bereduced.

Moreover, when the leakage rate of the treatment chamber of thesputtering apparatus is set to lower than or equal to 1×10⁻¹⁰Pa·m³/sec., entry of impurities such as an alkali metal, hydrogen,water, a hydroxyl group, or a hydride into the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film that is being formed by a sputtering method can bereduced. Further, with use of an entrapment vacuum pump as an evacuationsystem, counter flow of impurities such as an alkali metal, hydrogen,water, a hydroxyl group, or hydride from the evacuation system can bereduced.

When the purity of the target is set to higher than or equal to 99.99%,alkali metal, hydrogen, water, a hydroxyl group, a hydride, or the likeentering the crystalline oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. Withuse of the target, in the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55, theconcentration of lithium can be lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm³,preferably lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁵ atoms/cm³, the concentration ofsodium can be lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³, preferably lowerthan or equal to 1×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³, further preferably lower than orequal to 1×10¹⁵ atoms/cm³, and the concentration of potassium can belower than or equal to 5×10¹⁵ atoms/cm³, preferably lower than or equalto 1×10¹⁵ atoms/cm³.

An alkali metal and an alkaline earth metal are adverse impurities forthe crystalline oxide semiconductor and are preferably contained aslittle as possible. Of alkali metals, in particular, sodium is dispersedin an oxide insulating film which is in contact with the crystallineoxide semiconductor to be a sodium ion (Na⁺). In addition, Na cuts thebond between a metal and oxygen or enters the bond in the crystallineoxide semiconductor. As a result, transistor characteristics deteriorate(e.g., the transistor becomes normally-on (the shift of a thresholdvoltage to a negative side) or the mobility is decreased). In addition,this also causes variation in the characteristics. Such a problem issignificant especially in the case where the hydrogen concentration inthe crystalline oxide semiconductor is sufficiently low. Therefore, theconcentration of an alkali metal is strongly required to set to theabove value in the case where the hydrogen concentration in thecrystalline oxide semiconductor is lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁹atoms/cm³, particularly lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁸ atoms/cm³.

The crystalline oxide semiconductor film is formed under the aboveconditions, whereby the amount of impurities in the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film can be extremely small (the concentration of alkalimetal is lower than or equal to 5×10¹⁶ atoms/cm³, and the concentrationof hydrogen is lower than or equal to 1×10¹⁹ atoms/cm³). By reduction ofthe impurities in the crystalline oxide semiconductor film, crystalgrowth of the seed crystal and the crystalline oxide semiconductor filmis promoted, and further, a single crystal oxide semiconductor film or asubstantially single crystal oxide semiconductor film can be formed.

In the crystalline oxide semiconductor, oxygen bonded to a metal elementhas lower reactivity with hydrogen than oxygen in an amorphous oxidesemiconductor; thus, generation of defects can be reduced. Therefore, atransistor in which a channel region is formed in the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film has a small amount of change in the threshold voltagebetween before and after light irradiation or the BT test and thus hasstable electric characteristics.

Further, in the formation step of the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm, at least one, preferably all, of the above conditions which arethe pressure of the treatment chamber, the temperature of the surfacewhere a film is formed, the leakage rate of the treatment chamber, andthe purity of the target is employed, whereby entry of hydrogen and analkali metal into the oxide insulating film and the crystalline oxidesemiconductor can be reduced. In addition, diffusion of hydrogen and analkali metal from the oxide insulating film to the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film can be reduced. Hydrogen contained in the oxidesemiconductor is reacted with oxygen bonded to a metal atom to be water,and in addition, a defect is formed in a lattice from which oxygen isdetached (or a portion from which oxygen is removed).

Thus, the impurities are reduced as much as possible in the formationstep of the crystalline oxide semiconductor film, whereby defects in thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film can be reduced. From the above, thetransistor in which a channel region is formed in the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film has a small amount of change in threshold voltagebetween before and after light irradiation or the BT test and thus hasstable electric characteristics.

According to this embodiment, in one sputtering step, by utilizing adifference in atomic weight of atoms in the target, zinc with low atomicweight is preferentially deposited over the oxide insulating film toform a seed crystal, and then tin, indium, or the like with high atomicweight are deposited on the seed crystal while causing crystal growth.Thus, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film can be formed withoutperforming a plurality of steps. Further, since an oxide semiconductorwith a hexagonal crystal structure is deposited using the seed crystalwith a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc, a single crystaloxide semiconductor film or a substantially single crystal oxidesemiconductor film can be formed.

Note that a metal oxide which can be used for the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 55 has an energy gap of 2 eV or more, preferably 2.5eV or more, further preferably 3 eV or more. In this manner, off-statecurrent of the transistor can be reduced by using a metal oxide having awide band gap.

In this embodiment, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 isformed by a sputtering method with use of an In—Ga—Zn—O-based metaloxide target and a mixed gas of argon and oxygen as a sputtering gas.

Next, a heat treatment is performed on the substrate 51, so thathydrogen is released from the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55and part of oxygen contained in the oxide insulating film 53 is diffusedinto the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 and in the vicinity ofthe interface between the crystalline oxide insulating film 53 and theoxide semiconductor film 55.

The temperature of the heat treatment is preferably a temperature atwhich hydrogen is released from the crystalline oxide semiconductor film55 and part of oxygen contained in the oxide insulating film 53 isreleased and diffused into the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55.The temperature is typically higher than or equal to 150° C. and lowerthan the strain point of the substrate 51, preferably higher than orequal to 250° C. and lower than or equal to 450° C. When the heattreatment temperature is higher than the deposition temperature of thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film, a large amount of oxygen containedin the oxide insulating film 53 can be released.

The heat treatment is preferably conducted in an inert gas atmosphere;typically it is preferably performed in a rare gas (such as helium,neon, argon, xenon, or krypton) atmosphere or a nitrogen atmosphere.Alternatively, the heat treatment may be performed in a reduced-pressureatmosphere.

This heat treatment enables release of hydrogen from the crystallineoxide semiconductor film 55 and diffusion of part of oxygen contained inthe oxide insulating film 53 into the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm 55 and in the vicinity of the interface between the oxideinsulating film 53 and the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55. Inthis process, oxygen vacancies in the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm 55 can be reduced and oxygen is diffused in the vicinity of theinterface between the oxide insulating film 53 and the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 55, thereby reducing defects at the interface betweenthe oxide semiconductor film and the oxide insulating film. As a result,a crystalline oxide semiconductor film in which the hydrogenconcentration and oxygen vacancies are reduced can be formed.

Next, a mask is formed over the crystalline oxide semiconductor filmwhich has been subjected to the heat treatment, and then the crystallineoxide semiconductor film is selectively etched with use of the mask, sothat a crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 is formed. After that,the mask is removed (see FIG. 1C).

The mask used in the etching of the crystalline oxide semiconductor film55 can be formed as appropriate by a photolithography step, an inkjetmethod, a printing method or the like. Wet etching or dry etching may beemployed as appropriate for the etching of the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 55.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 1D, a pair of electrodes 61 in contact withthe crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 is formed.

The pair of electrodes 61 functions as a source electrode and a drainelectrode.

The pair of electrodes 61 can be formed using a metal element selectedfrom the group of aluminum, chromium, copper, tantalum, titanium,molybdenum, and tungsten; an alloy containing any of these metalelements as a component; an alloy containing these metal elements incombination; and the like. Further, one or more metal elements selectedfrom manganese or zirconium may be used. In addition, the pair ofelectrodes 61 can have a single-layer structure or a stacked structurehaving two or more layers. For example, a single-layer structure of analuminum film containing silicon, a two-layer structure in which atitanium film is stacked over an aluminum film, a two-layer structure inwhich a titanium film is stacked over a titanium nitride film, atwo-layer structure in which a tungsten film is stacked over a titaniumnitride film, a two-layer structure in which a tungsten film is stackedover a tantalum nitride film, a three-layer structure in which atitanium film, an aluminum film, and a titanium film are stacked in thisorder, and the like can be given.

The pair of electrodes 61 can be formed using a light-transmittingconductive material such as indium tin oxide, indium oxide containingtungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten oxide, indiumoxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide containing titaniumoxide, indium zinc oxide, or indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide isadded. It is also possible to have a stacked-layer structure formedusing the above light-transmitting conductive material and the abovemetal element.

The pair of electrodes 61 is formed by a printing method or an inkjetmethod. Alternatively, after a conductive film is formed by a sputteringmethod, a CVD method, an evaporation method or the like, a mask isformed over the conductive film and the conductive film is etched, andthereby the pair of electrodes 61 is formed. The mask formed over theconductive film can be formed by an inkjet method, a printing method, aphotolithography method, or the like as appropriate.

At this time, the conductive film is formed over the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 59 and the oxide insulating film 53, and etched intoa predetermined pattern to form the pair of electrodes 61.

Note that the conductive film is formed over the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film which has been subjected to the heat treatment, and aconcavo-convex shaped mask is formed with use of a multi-tonephoto-mask. The crystalline oxide semiconductor film which has beensubjected to the heat treatment and the conductive film are etched withuse of the mask. Then, the concavo-convex shaped mask is separated byashing, and the conductive film is etched selectively with use of theseparated masks to form the crystalline oxide semiconductor film and thepair of electrodes. With this process, the number of the photo-masksused and the number of steps in the photolithography process can bereduced.

Then, a gate insulating film 63 is formed over the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 59 and the pair of electrodes 61.

Next, a gate electrode 65 is formed in a region which is above the gateinsulating film 63 and overlaps with the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm 59.

After that, an insulating film 69 may be formed as a protective film(FIG. 1E). In addition, after contact holes are formed in the gateinsulating film 63 and the insulating film 69, wirings connected to thepair of electrodes 61 may be formed.

The gate insulating film 63 can be formed with a single layer or astacked layer of silicon oxide, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride,silicon nitride oxide, aluminum oxide, aluminum oxynitride or galliumoxide. It is preferable that a portion in the gate insulating film 63which is in contact with the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59contain oxygen. It is further preferable that the gate insulating film63 be formed using an oxide insulating film from which oxygen isreleased by heating, which is similar to the oxide insulating film 53.By using the silicon oxide film, it is possible to diffuse oxygen to thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film 59, so that its characteristics canbe improved.

The gate insulating film 63 is formed using a high-k material such ashafnium silicate (HfSiO_(x)), hafnium silicate to which nitrogen isadded (HfSi_(x)O_(y)N_(z)), hafnium aluminate to which nitrogen is added(HfAl_(x)O_(y)N_(z)), hafnium oxide, or yttrium oxide, so that gateleakage current can be decreased. Further, a stacked structure can beused in which a high-k material and one or more of silicon oxide,silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon nitride oxide, aluminumoxide, aluminum oxynitride and gallium oxide are stacked. For example,the thickness of the gate insulating film 63 is preferably greater thanor equal to 1 nm and less than or equal to 300 nm, and furtherpreferably greater than or equal to 5 nm and less than or equal to 50nm.

Before the gate insulating film 63 is formed, the surface of thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 may be exposed to plasma of anoxidative gas such as oxygen, ozone or dinitrogen monoxide so as to beoxidized, thereby reducing the oxygen vacancy.

The gate electrode 65 can be formed using a metal element selected fromthe group of aluminum, chromium, copper, tantalum, titanium, molybdenum,and tungsten; an alloy containing any of these metal elements as acomponent; an alloy containing these metal elements in combination; andthe like. Further, one or more metal elements selected from manganese orzirconium may be used. Further, the gate electrode 65 may have asingle-layer structure or a stacked-layer structure of two or morelayers. For example, a single-layer structure of an aluminum filmcontaining silicon, a two-layer structure in which a titanium film isstacked over an aluminum film, a two-layer structure in which a titaniumfilm is stacked over a titanium nitride film, a two-layer structure inwhich a tungsten film is stacked over a titanium nitride film, atwo-layer structure in which a tungsten film is stacked over a tantalumnitride film, a three-layer structure in which a titanium film, analuminum film, and a titanium film are stacked in this order, and thelike can be given.

The gate electrode 65 can be formed using a light-transmittingconductive material such as indium tin oxide, indium oxide containingtungsten oxide, indium zinc oxide containing tungsten oxide, indiumoxide containing titanium oxide, indium tin oxide containing titaniumoxide, indium zinc oxide, or indium tin oxide to which silicon oxide isadded. It is also possible to have a stacked-layer structure formedusing the above light-transmitting conductive material and the abovemetal element.

The insulating film 69 can be formed as appropriate with any of theinsulating films listed for the gate insulating film 63. When a siliconnitride film is formed as the insulating film 69 by a sputtering methodor a CVD method, entry of moisture and an alkali metal from the outsidecan be prevented, and thus the amount of impurities contained in thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film can be reduced.

Note that after the gate insulating film 63 is formed or the insulatingfilm 69 is formed, a heat treatment may be performed. By the heattreatment, oxygen diffuses from the gate insulating film 63 to thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film. The higher the temperature of theheat treatment is, the smaller the amount of change in the thresholdvalue due to a −BT test performed while light is being irradiated is.

Through the above steps, a transistor 120 in which a channel region isformed in the crystalline oxide semiconductor film can be formed. Thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film including a channel region of thetransistor 120 has a hexagonal crystal structure in which bonds forforming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b plane and the c-axesare substantially perpendicular to a plan surface of the substrate whichis substantially parallel to the a-b plane. Such a transistor 120 has asmall amount of change in the threshold voltage between before and afterlight irradiation or the BT test and thus can have stable electriccharacteristics.

[Embodiment 2]

In this embodiment, a manufacturing method of a transistor having astructure different from that in Embodiment 1 will be described withreference to FIGS. 5A to 5D and FIG. 6. The transistor in thisembodiment is different from that in Embodiment 1 in that a pair ofelectrodes is provided between an oxide insulating film and acrystalline oxide semiconductor film. Note that the cross-sectional viewtaken along the dot-dash line C-D in FIG. 6 corresponds to FIG. 5D.

As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the oxide insulating film 53 is formed overthe substrate 51 as in Embodiment 1. A pair of electrodes 71 is formedover the oxide insulating film 53. A crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm 73 is formed over the pair of electrodes 71 and the oxideinsulating film 53.

The pair of electrodes 71 can be formed as appropriate by using amaterial and by a formation method which are similar to those of thepair of electrodes 61 described in Embodiment 1.

The crystalline oxide semiconductor film 73 can be formed as appropriateby using a material and by a formation method which are similar to thoseof the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 described in Embodiment1.

Then, as in Embodiment 1, the substrate 51 is heated so that acrystalline oxide semiconductor film with the lowered hydrogenconcentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies is formed. After that, amask is formed over the crystalline oxide semiconductor film with thelowered hydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies andetching is conducted on the crystalline oxide semiconductor film withthe lowered hydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies toform a crystalline oxide semiconductor film 75. After that, the mask isremoved (see FIG. 5B).

As illustrated in FIG. 5C, a gate insulating film 77 is formed over thepair of electrodes 71 and the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 75.Then, a gate electrode 79 is formed in a region which is above the gateinsulating film 77 and overlaps with the oxide semiconductor film 75.Then, an insulating film 81 may be formed over the gate insulating film77 and the gate electrode 79 as a protective film.

The gate insulating film 77 can be formed as appropriate by using amaterial and by a formation method which are similar to those of thegate insulating film 63 described in Embodiment 1.

The gate electrode 79 can be formed as appropriate by using a materialand by a formation method which are similar to those of the gateelectrode 65 described in Embodiment 1.

The insulating film 81 can be formed as appropriate by using a materialand by a formation method which are similar to those of the insulatingfilm 69 described in Embodiment 1.

Then, after a mask is formed over the insulating film 81, the gateinsulating film 77 and the insulating film 81 are partially etched toform contact holes. Wirings 83 are formed so as to be connected to thepair of electrodes 71 through the contact holes.

The wirings 83 can be formed as appropriate by using a material and aformation method which are similar to those of the pair of electrodes71.

Through the above steps, a transistor having the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film in a channel formation region can be formed. Thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film has a hexagonal crystal structurewhere bonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b planeand the c-axes are substantially perpendicular to a plan surface of thesubstrate which is substantially parallel to the a-b plane. Such atransistor including the crystalline oxide semiconductor film in thechannel region has a small amount of change in the threshold voltagebetween before or after light irradiation and the BT test; thus, thetransistor can have stable electric characteristics.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with any of the otherembodiments, as appropriate.

[Embodiment 3]

In this embodiment, a transistor which is different from the transistorsin Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2 will be described with reference toFIGS. 7A to 7C and FIG. 8. The transistor in this embodiment has abottom-gate structure in which a gate electrode is provided on thesubstrate side, which is different from the transistors in Embodiment 1and Embodiment 2. Note that the cross-sectional view taken along thedot-dash line E-F in FIG. 8 corresponds to FIG. 7C.

As illustrated in FIG. 7A, the oxide insulating film 53 is formed overthe substrate 51. A gate electrode 91 is formed over the oxideinsulating film 53. A gate insulating film 93 is formed over the oxideinsulating film 53 and the gate electrode 91. Then, a crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 95 is formed over the gate insulating film 93 as inEmbodiment 1.

The gate electrode 91 can be formed in a manner similar to that of thegate electrode 65 in Embodiment 1.

The gate insulating film 93 can be formed in a manner similar to that ofthe gate insulating film 63 in Embodiment 1.

The crystalline oxide semiconductor film 95 can be formed in a mannersimilar to that of the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 inEmbodiment 1.

Next, as in Embodiment 1, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 95 isheated to form a crystalline oxide semiconductor film with the loweredhydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies.

Then, a mask is formed over the crystalline oxide semiconductor filmwith the lowered hydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygenvacancies, and etching is conducted on the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film with the lowered hydrogen concentration and thereduced oxygen vacancies to form a crystalline oxide semiconductor film99. After that, the mask is removed (see FIG. 7B).

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 7C, a pair of electrodes 101 is formed overthe crystalline oxide semiconductor film 99. Then, an insulating film103 is formed over the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 99 and thepair of electrodes 101.

The pair of electrodes 101 can be formed as appropriate by using amaterial and by a formation method which are similar to those of thepair of electrodes 61 described in Embodiment 1.

The insulating film 103 can be formed in a manner similar to that of thegate insulating film 63 in Embodiment 1.

After that, heat treatment may be performed.

Through the above steps, a transistor having the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film in a channel formation region can be formed. Thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film has a hexagonal crystal structurewhere bonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b planeand the c-axes are substantially perpendicular to a plan surface of thesubstrate which is substantially parallel to the a-b plane. Such atransistor including the crystalline oxide semiconductor film in thechannel region has a small amount of change in the threshold voltagebetween before and after light irradiation or the BT test; thus, thetransistor can have stable electric characteristics.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with any of the otherembodiments, as appropriate.

[Embodiment 4]

In this embodiment, a transistor having a bottom-gate structure which isdifferent from that of the transistor in Embodiment 3 will be describedwith reference to FIGS. 9A to 9D and FIG. 10. This embodiment isdifferent from Embodiment 3 in that a pair of electrodes is providedbetween a gate insulating film and an oxide semiconductor film. Notethat the cross-sectional view taken along the dot-dash line G-H in FIG.10 corresponds to FIG. 9D.

As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the oxide insulating film 53 is formed overthe substrate 51. Next, the gate electrode 91 is formed over the oxideinsulating film 53. The gate insulating film 93 is formed over the oxideinsulating film 53 and the gate electrode 91. Then, a pair of electrodes105 is formed over the gate insulating film 93.

The pair of electrodes 105 can be formed as appropriate by using amaterial and by a formation method which are similar to those of thepair of electrodes 61 described in Embodiment 1.

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 9B, a crystalline oxide semiconductor film107 is formed over the gate insulating film 93 in a manner similar tothat in Embodiment 1.

The crystalline oxide semiconductor film 107 can be formed in a mannersimilar to that of the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 inEmbodiment 1.

Next, as in Embodiment 1, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 107is heated to form a crystalline oxide semiconductor film with thelowered hydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies.

Then, a mask is formed over the crystalline oxide semiconductor filmwith the lowered hydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygenvacancies, and etching is conducted on the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film with the lowered hydrogen concentration and thereduced oxygen vacancies to form a crystalline oxide semiconductor film109. After that, the mask is removed (see FIG. 9C).

Next, as illustrated in FIG. 9D, a protective film 111 is formed overthe crystalline oxide semiconductor film 109 and the pair of electrodes105.

The protective film 111 can be formed in a manner similar to that of thegate insulating film 63 in Embodiment 1.

After that, heat treatment may be performed.

Through the above steps, a transistor having the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film in a channel formation region can be formed. Thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film has a hexagonal crystal structurewhere bonds for forming hexagonal lattices are formed in the a-b planeand the c-axes are substantially perpendicular to a plan surface of thesubstrate which is substantially parallel to the a-b plane. Such atransistor including the crystalline oxide semiconductor film in thechannel region has a small amount of change in the threshold voltagebetween before and after light irradiation or the BT test; thus, thetransistor can have stable electric characteristics.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with any of the otherembodiments, as appropriate.

[Embodiment 5]

In this embodiment, a case where the transistor described in any ofEmbodiments 1 to 4 has a plurality of gate electrodes will be described.Although the transistor described in Embodiment 3 is used in thisembodiment, the transistors described in Embodiments 1, 2, and 4 can beused as appropriate.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the oxide insulating film 53 is formed overthe substrate 51; the gate electrode 91 and the gate insulating film 93are formed over the oxide insulating film 53; and the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 99, the pair of electrodes 101, and the insulatingfilm 103 are formed over the gate insulating film 93, as in Embodiment3.

Next, a back gate electrode 113 is formed in a region which is above theinsulating film 103 and overlaps with the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 99. Then, an insulating film 115 may be formed as aprotective film over the insulating film 103 and the back gate electrode113.

The back gate electrode 113 can be formed in a manner similar to that ofthe gate electrode 65 in Embodiment 1.

The insulating film 103 functions as a gate insulating film on the backgate electrode 113 side. The insulating film 115 can be formed in amanner similar to that of the insulating film 69 described in Embodiment1.

The gate electrode 91 and the back gate electrode 113 may be connected.In this case, the gate electrode 91 and the back gate electrode 113 havethe same potential and channel regions are formed on the gate insulatingfilm 93 side and on the insulating film 103 side of the crystallineoxide semiconductor film 99, and thereby the on-state current and fieldeffect mobility of the transistor can be increased.

Alternatively, it is also possible that the gate electrode 91 and theback gate electrode 113 are not connected and have different appliedpotentials. In this case, the threshold voltage of the transistor can becontrolled.

In this embodiment, the pair of electrodes 101 is formed between thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film 99 and the insulating film 103, butthe pair of electrodes may be formed between the gate insulating film 93and the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 99.

Through the above-described steps, the transistor having a plurality ofgate electrodes can be formed.

[Embodiment 6]

In this embodiment, a manufacturing method of a transistor where acontact resistance between a crystalline oxide semiconductor film and apair of electrodes can be decreased more than those of the transistorsdescribed in Embodiment 1 to Embodiment will be described.

As in Embodiment 1, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 isformed over the oxide insulating film 53 by the steps described in FIGS.1A and 1B. Next, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 is heatedto form the crystalline oxide semiconductor film with the loweredhydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies. Then, asillustrated in FIG. 12A, a buffer 84 having n-type conductivity isformed over the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 57 with the loweredhydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies.

For the buffer 84 having n-type conductivity, a metal oxide selectedfrom the group of indium oxide, indium tin oxide, indium zinc oxide, tinoxide, zinc oxide, and tin zinc oxide, or a material of the metal oxidewhich contains one or more elements selected from the group of aluminum,gallium, and silicon can be used. With such a structure, the contactresistance between the crystalline oxide semiconductor film and the pairof electrodes serving as a source electrode and a drain electrode to beformed later can be reduced.

In this case, at the same time when the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm is heated to release hydrogen from the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film, oxygen is diffused into the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film from the oxide insulating film. After that, thebuffer 84 having n-type conductivity is formed over the crystallineoxide semiconductor film. That is, hydrogen can be sufficiently releasedfrom the oxide semiconductor film. As a result, the hydrogenconcentration and the oxygen vacancy in the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film can be reduced, and thereby the threshold voltage ofthe transistor can be prevented from shifting to a negative side.

Next, after a mask is formed over the buffer 84 having n-typeconductivity, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film with the loweredhydrogen concentration and the reduced oxygen vacancies and the buffer84 having n-type conductivity are etched to form the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 59 and a buffer 85 having n-type conductivity. Afterthat, the mask is removed (see FIG. 12B).

As illustrated in FIG. 12C, the pair of electrodes 61 is formed over thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 and the buffer 85 having n-typeconductivity. In this case, in order to keep the film quality of thegate insulating film, a material which does not extract oxygen from thegate insulating film is preferably used as the pair of electrodes 61.Examples of the material of the pair of electrodes 61 include tungsten,molybdenum and the like. However, tungsten or molybdenum unfortunatelyturns into a highly-resistant metal oxide in a region in contact withthe crystalline oxide semiconductor film and the gate insulating film.For that reason, the buffer having n-type conductivity is providedbetween the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 and the pair ofelectrodes 61 so that the contact resistance between the crystallineoxide semiconductor film 59 and the pair of electrodes 61 can be reduced(see FIG. 12D).

Next, with use of a mask (not illustrated) formed over the pair ofelectrodes 61, an exposed portion of the buffer 85 having n-typeconductivity is etched to form a pair of buffers 87 having n-typeconductivity.

Note that it is possible that after the mask formed over the pair ofelectrodes 61 is removed, the pair of electrodes 61 is used as a maskand an exposed portion of the buffer 85 having n-type conductivity isetched, so that the pair of buffers 87 having n-type conductivity isformed.

When the buffer 85 having n-type conductivity is etched, a conditionthat the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 is not etched and thebuffer 85 having n-type conductivity is selectively etched (a conditionwith a high etching selectivity) is preferably adopted. In addition, ifa difference in etching rates between the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film 59 and the buffer 85 having n-type conductivity issmall, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 is partially etchedinto a shape having a groove (a depressed portion) as well as the buffer85 having n-type conductivity.

In this embodiment, since the pair of the buffers 87 having n-typeconductivity is provided between the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm 59 and the pair of electrodes 61, the contact resistance betweenthe crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 and the pair of electrodes61 can be lowered. As a result, an on-state current of the transistorcan be prevented from being reduced. In addition, the amount of changein the on-state current (Ion deterioration) between before and afterapplication of a negative gate stress in a BT test can be suppressed.

Next, as in Embodiment 1, the gate insulating film 63, the gateelectrode 65 and the insulating film 69 are formed (see FIG. 12E). Inaddition, after contact holes are formed in the gate insulating film 63and the insulating film 69, wirings connected to the pair of electrodes61 may be formed.

Through the above steps, the transistor having the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film in a channel formation region can be formed.

According to this embodiment, a buffer having n-type conductivity isformed between the oxide semiconductor film and a pair of wirings inorder to reduce contact resistance, whereby the on-state current of thetransistor can be reduced and the amount of change in the on-statecurrent (Ion deterioration) between before and after application of anegative gate stress in a BT test can be suppressed.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with any of the otherembodiments, as appropriate.

[Embodiment 7]

In this embodiment, an example of a manufacturing apparatus with whichsteps from formation of the oxide insulating film 53 to formation of aconductive film to be a source electrode or a drain electrode through aheat treatment step, which are described in Embodiment 1, aresuccessively performed without exposure to air is illustrated in FIG.13.

The manufacturing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 13 is a single wafermulti-chamber apparatus, which includes three sputtering devices 10 a,10 b, and 10 c, a substrate supply chamber 11 provided with threecassette ports 14 for holding a process substrate, load lock chambers 12a and 12 b, a transfer chamber 13, a substrate heating chamber 15, andthe like. Note that a transfer robot for transferring a substrate to beprocessed is provided in each of the substrate supply chamber 11 and thetransfer chamber 13. The atmospheres of the sputtering devices 10 a, 10b, and 10 c, the transfer chamber 13, and the substrate heating chamber15 are preferably controlled so as to hardly contain hydrogen andmoisture (i.e., as an inert atmosphere, a reduced pressure atmosphere,or a dry air atmosphere). For example, a preferable atmosphere is a drynitrogen atmosphere in which the dew point of moisture is −40° C. orlower, preferably −50° C. or lower.

An example of a procedure of the manufacturing steps with use of themanufacturing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 13 is as follows. Theprocess substrate is transferred from the substrate supply chamber 11 tothe substrate heating chamber 15 through the load lock chamber 12 a andthe transfer chamber 13; moisture attached to the process substrate isremoved by heat treatment such as vacuum baking in the substrate heatingchamber 15; the process substrate is transferred to the sputteringdevice 10 c through the transfer chamber 13; and the oxide insulatingfilm 53 is deposited in the sputtering device 10 c. Then, the processsubstrate is transferred to the sputtering device 10 a without exposureto air through the transfer chamber 13; zinc is preferentially depositedon the oxide insulating film 53 in the sputtering device 10 a, and thedeposited zinc is oxidized, so that the seed crystal 55 a with ahexagonal crystal structure including zinc is formed; and sputtering iscontinuously performed in the same sputtering device, so that crystalgrowth is caused using the seed crystal 55 a as a nucleus, and thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film 55 b with a hexagonal crystalstructure is formed over the seed crystal 55 a. Then, the processsubstrate is transferred to the substrate heating chamber 15 though thetransfer chamber 13 without exposure to air and a heat treatment isperformed. After that, the process substrate is transferred to thesputtering device 10 b through the transfer chamber 13 without exposureto air; and a conductive film to be a source electrode and a drainelectrode is deposited with use of a metal target over the crystallineoxide semiconductor film 55 b in the sputtering device 10 b.

As described above, with use of the manufacturing apparatus illustratedin FIG. 13, part of a manufacturing process of a transistor can proceedwithout exposure to air.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with any of the otherembodiments, as appropriate.

[Embodiment 8]

In this embodiment, an example of a semiconductor device having a novelstructure will be described. In this semiconductor device, thetransistor including the oxide semiconductor layer described in any ofEmbodiments 1 to 7 is used, stored data can be retained even in a statewhere no power is supplied, and there is no limitation on the number ofwriting operations.

Since the off-state current of the transistor including an oxidesemiconductor described in any one of Embodiments 1 to 7 is extremelysmall, stored data can be held for an extremely long time owing to sucha transistor. In other words, power consumption can be adequatelyreduced because refresh operation becomes unnecessary or the frequencyof refresh operation can be extremely low. Moreover, stored data can beheld for a long time even when power is not supplied.

FIGS. 14A to 14C illustrate an example of a structure of a semiconductordevice. FIG. 14A illustrates a cross section of the semiconductordevice, and FIG. 14B illustrates a plan view of the semiconductordevice. Here, FIG. 14A corresponds to a cross section along line E1-E2and line F1-F2 in FIG. 14B. The semiconductor device illustrated inFIGS. 14A and 14B includes a transistor 260 including a material otherthan an oxide semiconductor in a lower portion, and a transistor 120including an oxide semiconductor in an upper portion. The transistor 120is the same as that in Embodiment 1; thus, for description of FIGS. 14Ato 14C, the same reference numerals are used for the same parts as thosein FIG. 1E.

The transistor 260 includes: a channel formation region 216 in asubstrate 200 containing a semiconductor material (e.g., silicon or thelike); impurity regions 214 and high-concentration impurity regions 220(which are collectively called simply impurity regions and which areprovided so that the channel formation region 216 is sandwichedtherebetween); a gate insulating film 208 over the channel formationregion 216; a gate electrode 210 over the gate insulating film 208; asource or drain electrode 230 a electrically connected to the impurityregion; and a source or drain electrode 230 b electrically connected tothe impurity region.

Here, sidewall insulating films 218 are formed on side surfaces of thegate electrode 210. The high-concentration impurity regions 220 areprovided in regions of the substrate 200 which do not overlap with thesidewall insulating films 218 when seen from a direction perpendicularto a main surface of the substrate 200. Metal compound regions 224 areprovided in contact with the high-concentration impurity regions 220. Anelement isolation insulating film 206 is provided over the substrate 200so as to surround the transistor 260. An interlayer insulating film 226and an interlayer insulating film 128 are provided so as to cover thetransistor 260. The source or drain electrode 230 a and the source ordrain electrode 230 b are electrically connected to the metal compoundregions 224 through openings formed in the interlayer insulating films226 and 128. In other words, the source or drain electrode 230 a and thesource or drain electrode 230 b are electrically connected to thehigh-concentration impurity regions 220 and the impurity regions 214through the metal compound regions 224. Note that the sidewallinsulating film 218 is not formed in some cases for integration of thetransistor 260 or the like.

The transistor 120 illustrated in FIGS. 14A to 14C includes thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film 59, the pair of electrodes 61serving as a source electrode or a drain electrode, the gate insulatingfilm 63, and the gate electrode 65. The transistor 120 can be formed bythe process described in Embodiment 1.

In FIGS. 14A to 14C, the crystalline oxide semiconductor film 59 canhave a uniform thickness by improving the planarity of the interlayerinsulating film 128 over which the crystalline oxide semiconductor film59 is formed; thus, the characteristics of the transistor 120 can beimproved. Note that the channel length is small, for example, 0.8 μm or3 μm. Further, the interlayer insulating film 128 corresponds to theoxide insulating film 53 and is formed using the same material.

A capacitor 265 illustrated in FIGS. 14A to 14C includes one of the pairof electrodes 61, the gate insulating film 63 serving as a dielectric,and an electrode 248.

Further, the insulating film 69 is provided over the transistor 120 andthe capacitor 265, and the protective insulating film 110 is providedover the insulating film 69.

Furthermore, a wiring 242 a and a wiring 242 b which are formed in thesame step as that of the pair of electrodes 61 are provided. The wiring242 a is electrically connected to the source or drain electrode 230 a,and the wiring 242 b is electrically connected to the source or drainelectrode 230 b.

FIG. 14C shows a circuit configuration. Note that in the circuitdiagram, in some cases, “OS” is written beside a transistor in order toindicate that the transistor includes an oxide semiconductor.

In FIG. 14C, a first wiring (a 1st Line) is electrically connected tothe source electrode of the transistor 260, and a second wiring (a 2ndLine) is electrically connected to a drain electrode of the transistor260. A third wiring (a 3rd Line) is electrically connected to one of thesource electrode and the drain electrode of the transistor 120, and afourth wiring (a 4th Line) is electrically connected to a gate electrodeof the transistor 120. A gate electrode of the transistor 260, the otherof the source electrode and the drain electrode of the transistor 120,and one electrode of the capacitor 265 are electrically connected to oneanother. Further, a fifth wiring (a 5th line) and the other electrode ofthe capacitor 265 are electrically connected to each other.

The semiconductor device in FIG. 14C can write, hold, and read data asdescribed below, utilizing a characteristic in which the potential ofthe gate electrode of the transistor 260 can be held.

Firstly, writing and holding of data will be described. The potential ofthe fourth wiring is set to a potential at which the transistor 120 isturned on, whereby the transistor 120 is turned on. Thus, the potentialof the third wiring is applied to the gate electrode of the transistor260 and the capacitor 265. In other words, a predetermined charge issupplied to the gate electrode of the transistor 260 (i.e., writing ofdata). Here, charge for supply of a potential level or charge for supplyof a different potential level (hereinafter referred to as Low levelcharge and High level charge) is given. After that, the potential of thefourth wiring is set to a potential at which the transistor 120 isturned off, so that the transistor 120 is turned off. Thus, the chargegiven to the gate electrode of the transistor 260 is held (holding).

The off-state current of the transistor 120 is extremely low.Specifically, the value of the off-state current (here, current permicrometer of channel width) is less than or equal to 100 zA/μm (1 zA(zeptoampere) is 1×10⁻²¹ A), preferably less than or equal to 10 zA/μm.Thus, the charge of the gate electrode in the transistor 260 can beretained for a long time. In addition, a back gate electrode may beprovided as described in Embodiment 5, and it is preferable that thetransistor 120 be surely a normally off transistor by application of thevoltage to the back gate electrode.

As the substrate 200, a semiconductor substrate called an SOI (siliconon insulator) substrate can be used. Alternatively, as the substrate200, a substrate in which an SOI layer is formed over an insulatingsubstrate such as a glass substrate may be used. As an example of aformation method of an SOI substrate in which an SOI layer is formedover a glass substrate, there is a method in which a thin single crystallayer is formed over a glass substrate by a hydrogen ion implantationseparation method. Specifically, by irradiation with H₃ ⁺ ions using anion doping apparatus, a separation layer is formed in a siliconsubstrate at a predetermined depth from a surface, a glass substratehaving an insulating film on its surface is bonded to the surface of thesilicon substrate by being pressed, and a heat treatment is performed ata temperature which is lower than a temperature at which separationoccurs in the separation layer or at an interface of the separationlayer. Alternatively, the heating temperature may be a temperature atwhich the separation layer is embrittled. As a result, part of thesemiconductor substrate is separated from the silicon substrate bygenerating a separation border in the separation layer or at aninterface of the separation layer, so that the SOI layer is formed overthe glass substrate.

Note that this embodiment can be combined with any of the Embodiments 1to 7, as appropriate.

[Embodiment 9]

In this embodiment, an example in which at least part of a drivercircuit and a transistor to be disposed in a pixel portion are formedover one substrate is described below.

The transistor to be disposed in the pixel portion is formed accordingto any one of Embodiments 1 to 7. Further, the transistor described inany of Embodiments 1 to 7 is an n-channel TFT, and thus a part of adriver circuit that can be formed of n-channel TFTs among drivercircuits is formed over the same substrate as the transistor of thepixel portion.

FIG. 15A illustrates an example of a block diagram of an active matrixdisplay device. Over a substrate 5300 in the display device, a pixelportion 5301, a first scan line driver circuit 5302, a second scan linedriver circuit 5303, and a signal line driver circuit 5304 are provided.In the pixel portion 5301, a plurality of signal lines extended from thesignal line driver circuit 5304 is arranged and a plurality of scanlines extended from the first scan line driver circuit 5302 and thesecond scan line driver circuit 5303 is arranged. Note that pixels whichinclude display elements are arranged in matrix in regions where thescan lines and the signal lines are crossed. Further, the substrate 5300in the display device is connected to a timing control circuit (alsoreferred to as a controller or a controller IC) through a connectionpoint such as a flexible printed circuit (FPC).

In FIG. 15A, the first scan line driver circuit 5302, the second scanline driver circuit 5303, and the signal line driver circuit 5304 areformed over the same substrate 5300 as the pixel portion 5301.Accordingly, the number of components of a drive circuit which isprovided outside and the like are reduced, so that reduction in cost canbe achieved. Further, if the driver circuit is provided outside thesubstrate 5300, wirings would need to be extended and the number ofwiring connections would be increased, but if the driver circuit isprovided over the substrate 5300, the number of wiring connections canbe reduced. Consequently, improvement in reliability and yield can beachieved.

FIG. 15B illustrates an example of a circuit configuration of the pixelportion. Here, a pixel structure of a VA liquid crystal display panel isshown.

In this pixel structure, a plurality of pixel electrodes are included inone pixel, and transistors are connected to the respective pixelelectrodes. The plurality of transistors are constructed so as to bedriven by different gate signals. That is, signals that are applied toindividual pixel electrodes in a multi-domain pixel are controlledindependently of each other.

A gate wiring 602 of a transistor 628 and a gate wiring 603 of atransistor 629 are separated so that different gate signals can be giventhereto. In contrast, the source or the drain electrode 616 functioningas a data line is used in common for the transistors 628 and 629. Aseach of the transistors 628 and 629, any of the transistors described inEmbodiments 1 to 7 can be used as appropriate.

A first pixel electrode electrically connected to the transistor 628 anda second pixel electrode electrically connected to the transistor 629have different shapes and are separated by a slit. The second pixelelectrode is provided so as to surround the external side of the firstpixel electrode which is spread in a V shape. Timing of voltageapplication is made to vary between the first and second pixelelectrodes by the transistors 628 and 629 in order to control alignmentof the liquid crystal. The transistor 628 is connected to the gatewiring 602, and the transistor 629 is connected to the gate wiring 603.When different gate signals are supplied to the gate wiring 602 and thegate wiring 603, operation timings of the transistor 628 and thetransistor 629 can be varied.

Further, a storage capacitor is formed using a capacitor wiring 690, agate insulating film serving as a dielectric, and a capacitor electrodeelectrically connected to the first pixel electrode layer or the secondpixel electrode layer.

The first pixel electrode, a liquid crystal layer, and a counterelectrode overlap with each other to form a first liquid crystal element651. In addition, a second liquid crystal element 652 is formed byoverlapping the second pixel electrode, the liquid crystal layer, andthe counter electrode. The pixel structure is a multi-domain structurein which the first liquid crystal element 651 and the second liquidcrystal element 652 are provided in one pixel.

Note that the pixel structure is not limited to that illustrated in FIG.15B. For example, a switch, a resistor, a capacitor, a transistor, asensor, a logic circuit, or the like may be added to the pixelillustrated in FIG. 15B.

FIG. 15C shows an example of a circuit configuration of the pixelportion. Here, a pixel structure of a display panel using an organic ELelement is shown.

In an organic EL element, by application of voltage to a light-emittingelement, electrons and holes are separately injected from a pair ofelectrodes into a layer containing a light-emitting organic compound,and current flows. The carriers (electrons and holes) are recombined,and thus, the light-emitting organic compound is excited. Thelight-emitting organic compound returns to a ground state from theexcited state, thereby emitting light. Owing to such a mechanism, thislight-emitting element is referred to as a current-excitationlight-emitting element.

FIG. 15C shows an example of a pixel structure to which digital timegrayscale driving can be applied, as an example of a semiconductordevice.

A structure and operation of a pixel to which digital time grayscaledriving can be applied are described. Here, one pixel includes twon-channel transistors each of which includes an oxide semiconductorlayer as a channel formation region.

A pixel 6400 includes a switching transistor 6401, a driver transistor6402, a light-emitting element 6404, and a capacitor 6403. A gateelectrode of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a scan line6406. A first electrode (one of a source electrode and a drainelectrode) of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a signalline 6405. A second electrode (the other of the source electrode and thedrain electrode) of the switching transistor 6401 is connected to a gateelectrode of the driving transistor 6402. The gate electrode of thedriving transistor 6402 is connected to a power supply line 6407 throughthe capacitor 6403. A first electrode of the driving transistor 6402 isconnected to the power supply line 6407. A second electrode of thedriving transistor 6402 is connected to a first electrode (a pixelelectrode) of the light-emitting element 6404. A second electrode of thelight-emitting element 6404 corresponds to a common electrode 6408. Thecommon electrode 6408 is electrically connected to a common potentialline provided over the same substrate.

The second electrode (common electrode 6408) of the light-emittingelement 6404 is set to a low power supply potential. Note that the lowpower supply potential is a potential satisfying that the low powersupply potential is lower than a high power supply potential withreference to the high power supply potential that is set to the powersupply line 6407. As the low power supply potential, GND, 0 V, or thelike may be employed, for example. A potential difference between thehigh power supply potential and the low power supply potential isapplied to the light-emitting element 6404 and current is supplied tothe light-emitting element 6404, so that the light-emitting element 6404emits light. Here, in order to make the light-emitting element 6404 emitlight, each potential is set so that the potential difference betweenthe high power supply potential and the low power supply potential is aforward threshold voltage or higher of the light-emitting element 6404.

Note that the capacitor 6403 can be omitted by using gate capacitance ofthe driver transistor 6402. The gate capacitance of the drivingtransistor 6402 may be formed between the channel formation region andthe gate electrode.

In the case of a voltage-input voltage driving method, a video signal isinput to the gate electrode of the driver transistor 6402 so that thedriver transistor 6402 is either substantially turned on orsubstantially turned off. That is, the driver transistor 6402 operatesin a linear region. That is, the driving transistor 6402 operates in alinear region, and thus, voltage higher than the voltage of the powersupply line 6407 is applied to the gate electrode of the drivingtransistor 6402. Note that a voltage higher than or equal to voltagethat is the sum of the voltage of the power supply line and Vth of thedriver transistor 6402 is applied to the signal line 6405.

In the case of using an analog grayscale method instead of the digitaltime grayscale method, the same pixel structure as in FIG. 15C can beemployed by inputting signals in a different way.

In the case of performing analog grayscale driving, a voltage greaterthan or equal to the sum of the forward voltage of the light-emittingelement 6404 and Vth of the driving transistor 6402 is applied to thegate electrode of the driving transistor 6402. The forward voltage ofthe light-emitting element 6404 indicates a voltage at which a desiredluminance is obtained, and includes at least forward threshold voltage.The video signal by which the driver transistor 6402 operates in asaturation region is input, so that current can be supplied to thelight-emitting element 6404. In order for the driver transistor 6402 tooperate in the saturation region, the potential of the power supply line6407 is set higher than the gate potential of the driver transistor6402. When an analog video signal is used, it is possible to feedcurrent in accordance with the video signal to the light-emittingelement 6404 and perform analog grayscale driving.

Note that the pixel structure is not limited to that illustrated in FIG.15C. For example, a switch, a resistor, a capacitor, a sensor, atransistor, a logic circuit, or the like may be added to the pixelillustrated in FIG. 15C.

[Embodiment 10]

A semiconductor device disclosed in this specification can be applied toa variety of electronic devices (including game machines). Examples ofelectronic devices are a television set (also referred to as atelevision or a television receiver), a monitor of a computer or thelike, a camera such as a digital camera or a digital video camera, adigital photo frame, a mobile phone handset (also referred to as amobile phone or a mobile phone device), a portable game machine, aportable information terminal, an audio reproducing device, alarge-sized game machine such as a pachinko machine, and the like.Examples of electronic devices each including the semiconductor devicedescribed in any of the above embodiments will be described.

FIG. 16A illustrates a portable information terminal, which includes smain body 3001, a housing 3002, display portions 3003 a and 3003 b, andthe like. The display portion 3003 b functions as a touch panel. Bytouching keyboard buttons 3004 displayed on the display portion 3003 b,a screen can be operated, and text can be input. Needless to say, thedisplay portion 3003 a may functions as a touch panel. A liquid crystalpanel or an organic light-emitting panel is manufactured by using thetransistor described in Embodiment 1 as a switching element and appliedto the display portion 3003 a or 3003 b, whereby a highly reliableportable information terminal can be provided.

The portable information terminal illustrated in FIG. 16A has a functionof displaying various kinds of information (e.g., a still image, amoving image, and a text image) on the display portion, a function ofdisplaying a calendar, a date, the time, or the like on the displayportion, a function of operating or editing the information displayed onthe display portion, a function of controlling processing by variouskinds of software (programs), and the like. Furthermore, an externalconnection terminal (an earphone terminal, a USB terminal, or the like),a recording medium insertion portion, and the like may be provided onthe back surface or the side surface of the housing.

The portable information terminal illustrated in FIG. 16A may transmitand receive data wirelessly. Through wireless communication, desiredbook data or the like can be purchased and downloaded from an electronicbook server.

FIG. 16B illustrates a portable music player, which includes, in a mainbody 3021, a display portion 3023, a fixing portion 3022 with which themain body is worn on the ear, a speaker, an operation button 3024, anexternal memory slot 3025, and the like. A liquid crystal panel or anorganic light-emitting panel is manufactured by using the transistordescribed in Embodiment 1 as a switching element and applied to thedisplay portion 3023, whereby a highly reliable portable music player(PDA) can be provided.

Furthermore, when the portable music player illustrated in FIG. 16Bfunctions as an antenna, a microphone, or a wireless communicationdevice and is used with the mobile phone, a user can talk wirelessly andhands-freely on the phone while driving a car or the like.

FIG. 16C illustrates a mobile phone, which includes two housings, ahousing 2800 and a housing 2801. The housing 2801 includes a displaypanel 2802, a speaker 2803, a microphone 2804, a pointing device 2806, acamera lens 2807, an external connection terminal 2808, and the like. Inaddition, the housing 2800 includes a solar cell 2810 having a functionof charge of the portable information terminal, an external memory slot2811, and the like. Further, an antenna is incorporated in the housing2801. The transistor described in Embodiment 1 is applied to the displaypanel 2802, whereby a highly reliable mobile phone can be provided.

Further, the display panel 2802 is provided with a touch panel. Aplurality of operation keys 2805 that are displayed as images are shownby dashed lines in FIG. 16C. Note that a boosting circuit by which avoltage output from the solar cell 2810 is increased to be sufficientlyhigh for each circuit is also included.

For example, a power transistor used in a power supply circuit such as aboosting circuit can be formed by employing the transistor 120 describedin Embodiment 1, which includes the crystalline oxide semiconductor film59 whose thickness is greater than or equal to 2 μm and less than orequal to 50 μm.

In the display panel 2802, the display direction can be appropriatelychanged depending on a usage pattern. Further, the display device isprovided with the camera lens 2807 on the same surface as the displaypanel 2802, and thus it can be used as a video phone. The speaker 2803and the microphone 2804 can be used for videophone calls, recording andplaying sound, and the like as well as voice calls. Further, thehousings 2800 and 2801 in a state where they are developed asillustrated in FIG. 16C can shift by sliding so that one is lapped overthe other; therefore, the size of the mobile phone can be reduced, whichmakes the mobile phone suitable for being carried.

The external connection terminal 2808 can be connected to an AC adapterand various types of cables such as a USB cable, and charging and datacommunication with a personal computer are possible. Moreover, a largeamount of data can be stored by inserting a storage medium into theexternal memory slot 2811 and can be moved.

Further, in addition to the above functions, an infrared communicationfunction, a television reception function, or the like may be provided.

FIG. 16D illustrates an example of a television set. In a television set9600, a display portion 9603 is incorporated in a housing 9601. Thedisplay portion 9603 can display images. Here, the housing 9601 issupported on a stand 9605 provided with a CPU. When the transistor shownin Embodiment 1 is applied to the display portion 9603, the televisionset 9600 with high reliability can be obtained.

The television set 9600 can be operated by an operation switch of thehousing 9601 or a separate remote controller. Further, the remotecontroller may be provided with a display portion for displaying dataoutput from the remote controller.

Note that the television set 9600 is provided with a receiver, a modem,and the like. With use of the receiver, general television broadcastingcan be received. Moreover, when the display device is connected to acommunication network with or without wires via the modem, one-way (froma sender to a receiver) or two-way (between a sender and a receiver orbetween receivers) information communication can be performed.

Further, the television set 9600 is provided with an external connectionterminal 9604, a storage medium recording and reproducing portion 9602,and an external memory slot. The external connection terminal 9604 canbe connected to various types of cables such as a USB cable, and datacommunication with a personal computer is possible. A disk storagemedium is inserted into the storage medium recording and reproducingportion 9602, and reading data stored in the storage medium and writingdata to the storage medium can be performed. In addition, a picture, avideo, or the like stored as data in an external memory 9606 inserted tothe external memory slot can be displayed on the display portion 9603.

When the semiconductor device described in Embodiment 8 is applied tothe external memory 9606 or a CPU, the television set 9600 can have highreliability and power consumption thereof is sufficiently reduced.

EXPLANATION OF REFERENCES

-   11: substrate supply chamber, 13: transfer chamber, 14: cassette    port, 15: substrate heating chamber, 31: treatment chamber, 33:    evacuation unit, 35: gas supply unit, 37: power supply device, 40:    substrate support, 41: target, 43: ion, 51: substrate, 53: oxide    insulating film, 55: crystalline oxide semiconductor film, 57:    crystalline oxide semiconductor film, 59: crystalline oxide    semiconductor film, 61: electrode, 63: gate insulating film, 65:    gate electrode, 69: insulating film, 71: electrode, 73: crystalline    oxide semiconductor film, 75: crystalline oxide semiconductor film,    77: gate insulating film, 79: gate electrode, 81: insulating film,    83: wiring, 84: buffer, 85: buffer, 87: buffer, 91: gate electrode,    93: gate insulating film, 95: crystalline oxide semiconductor film,    99: crystalline oxide semiconductor film, 101: electrode, 103:    insulating film, 105: electrode, 107: crystalline oxide    semiconductor film, 109: crystalline oxide semiconductor film, 10 a:    sputtering apparatus, 10 b: sputtering apparatus, 10 c: sputtering    apparatus, 110: protective insulating film, 111: protective film,    113: back gate electrode, 115: insulating film, 120: transistor,    128: interlayer insulating film, 12 a: load lock chamber, 200:    substrate, 206: isolation insulating film, 208: gate insulating    film, 210: gate electrode, 214: impurity region, 216: channel    formation region, 218: sidewall insulating film, 220:    high-concentration impurity region, 224: metal compound region, 226:    interlayer insulating film, 248: electrode, 260: transistor, 265:    capacitor, 55 a: seed crystal, 55 b: crystalline oxide semiconductor    film, 602: gate wiring, 603: gate wiring, 616: source electrode or    drain electrode, 628: transistor, 629: transistor, 651: liquid    crystal element, 652: liquid crystal element, 690: capacitor wiring,    230 a: source electrode or drain electrode, 230 b: source electrode    or drain electrode, 242 a: wiring, 242 b: wiring, 2800: housing,    2801: housing, 2802: display panel, 2803: speaker, 2804: microphone,    2805: operation key, 2806: pointing device, 2807: camera lens, 2808:    external connection terminal, 2810: solar cell, 2811: external    memory slot, 3001: main body, 3002: housing, 3004: keyboard button,    3021: main body, 3022: fixing portion, 3023: display portion, 3024:    operation button, 3025: external memory slot, 5300: substrate, 5301:    pixel portion, 5302: scan line driver circuit, 5303: scan line    driver circuit, 5304: signal line driver circuit, 6400: pixel, 6401:    switching transistor, 6402: driver transistor, 6403: capacitor,    6404: light-emitting element, 6405: signal line, 6406: scan line,    6407: power supply line, 6408: common electrode, 9600: television    set, 9601: housing, 9602: storage medium recording and reproducing    portion, 9603: display portion, 9604: external connection terminal,    9605: stand, 9606: external memory, 3003 a: display portion, 3003 b:    display portion

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application serial No.2010-204971 filed with Japan Patent Office on Sep. 13, 2010, the entirecontents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice, comprising the steps of: forming an oxide insulating film over asubstrate; forming a seed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structureincluding zinc by a sputtering method over the oxide insulating film;causing a crystal growth using the seed crystal as a nucleus whiledepositing indium over the seed crystal to form a crystalline oxidesemiconductor film having a hexagonal crystal structure; performing aheat treatment on the crystalline oxide semiconductor film; etching thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film after the heat treatment; forming apair of electrodes over the crystalline oxide semiconductor film afterthe etching step; forming a gate insulating film over the crystallineoxide semiconductor film and the pair of electrodes; and forming a gateelectrode over the gate insulating film.
 2. The method for manufacturinga semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the seed crystalwith a hexagonal structure including zinc is zinc oxide.
 3. The methodfor manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 1, whereinthe crystalline oxide semiconductor is formed while the substrate isheated at a temperature higher than or equal to 200° C. and lower thanor equal to 400° C.
 4. The method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice according to claim 1, wherein the crystal included in the seedcrystal or the crystal included in the crystalline oxide semiconductorfilm has a c-axis which is substantially perpendicular to a plan surfaceof the substrate.
 5. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 1, wherein a temperature of the heat treatment is atemperature at which hydrogen included in the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film is released.
 6. A method for manufacturing asemiconductor device, comprising the steps of: forming an oxideinsulating film over a substrate; forming a pair of electrodes over theoxide insulating film; forming a seed crystal with a hexagonal crystalstructure including zinc by a sputtering method over the oxideinsulating film and the pair of electrodes; causing a crystal growthusing the seed crystal as a nucleus while depositing indium over theseed crystal to form a crystalline oxide semiconductor film having ahexagonal crystal structure; performing a heat treatment on thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film; etching the crystalline oxidesemiconductor film after the heat treatment; forming a gate insulatingfilm over the crystalline oxide semiconductor film after the etchingstep; and forming a gate electrode over the gate insulating film.
 7. Themethod for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 6,wherein the seed crystal with a hexagonal structure including zinc iszinc oxide.
 8. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor deviceaccording to claim 6, wherein the crystalline oxide semiconductor isformed while the substrate is heated at a temperature higher than orequal to 200° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C.
 9. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein thecrystal included in the seed crystal or the crystal included in thecrystalline oxide semiconductor film has a c-axis which is substantiallyperpendicular to a plan surface of the substrate.
 10. The method formanufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim 6, wherein atemperature of the heat treatment is a temperature at which hydrogenincluded in the crystalline oxide semiconductor film is released.
 11. Amethod for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising the stepsof: forming a gate electrode over a substrate; forming a gate insulatingfilm comprising an oxide insulating film over the gate electrode;forming a pair of electrodes over the gate insulating film; forming aseed crystal with a hexagonal crystal structure including zinc by asputtering method over the gate insulating film and the pair ofelectrodes; causing a crystal growth using the seed crystal as a nucleuswhile depositing indium over the seed crystal to form a crystallineoxide semiconductor film having a hexagonal crystal structure; andperforming a heat treatment on the crystalline oxide semiconductor film.12. The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according toclaim 11, wherein the seed crystal with a hexagonal structure includingzinc is zinc oxide.
 13. The method for manufacturing a semiconductordevice according to claim 11, wherein the crystalline oxidesemiconductor is formed while the substrate is heated at a temperaturehigher than or equal to 200° C. and lower than or equal to 400° C. 14.The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim11, wherein the crystal included in the seed crystal or the crystalincluded in the crystalline oxide semiconductor film has a c-axis whichis substantially perpendicular to a plan surface of the substrate. 15.The method for manufacturing a semiconductor device according to claim11, wherein a temperature of the heat treatment is a temperature atwhich hydrogen included in the crystalline oxide semiconductor film isreleased.